perhellion

No luck on ebay.

I saw an Ibanez RG on ebay that the seller had added a veneer top to, and it was spalted maple veneer. Any idea where to buy veneer like this? I was surprised, due to the "soft spots" inherent in spalted wood, that veneer would even be possible.

Cool fansite link. Now to find one not on Ebay, where bids tend to be way too high.

How is the Breadwinner shape while playing seated? (Of course, the best answer for this is for ME to play one seated, but I've never seen one -- or a Klein)

You just don't want a trem, right? Trems seem to work fine on Kleins. Doesn't have to be headless with this body. Check Ovation Deacons, Breadwinners, Preachers -- basically the Klein body shape with a regular headed neck.

I think a flat (no radius) fretboard is a great idea. But it seems a 3/16" rod would just be too wide for intonation. Maybe he has a really light touch. It seems the Stick has addressed this by going from round rods to a rod with a much sharper peak.

On the TK site, his personal guitar uses 3/16" rods. Probably the only neck heavy headless ever.

I've used the Sperzels and turning the locking wheel tight enough to hold for me felt fine on my fingers. Maybe you are turning too tight, thinking your tuning problem is tuner slippage, when it is actually binding at the nut. As for pics, Skid Row's "I Remeber You" video - I remember distinctly wondered why a guitar with no trem had a locking nut and Frank Hannon's pic at the beginning of the Mechanical Resonance tab book is him with the SG (I think, could be Great Radio Controversy book)

There must be some other benefit to smaller frets on higher numbered frets besides getting your fingers to fit. Jake E. Lee has tiny hands (I shook his right hand once.) I always wondered if his frets were also shorter and if he thought the action could be lower because of that. Looks like it would complicate leveling. (And I shook his hand after a show as he leaned off the stage, about to leave, so I couldn't ask him.)

I thought maybe some other members might also be curious and might benefit from answers not only from Ormsby but answers from others (which have kindly been provided, complete with links)

What are "Shredder fret option" and "Speed shelf neck joint option (jumbo + banjo frets)"?

I don't get the "bruising of fingertips" part, please elaborate. As for your idea, it does work -- Dave Sabo, Skid Row, LP Jr, FR nut, fine tuner tailpiece, and Frank Hannon, Tesla, SG, fine tuner tailpiece, but a Kahler nut.

I recommend USACG highly. To me, they are much more open to "options" on request. They will probably make the neck as thin as a real Wizard, but probably warn you it could crack near the nut -- lots of Ibanez Wizards crack here also -- why they went to that bubingar reinforcing stripe. I think the Wizard is a little too thin. If you ordered 1 3/4" nut width, and say a Jackson thickness, I'd bet it would be a little sturdier but still thin enough.

Yeah US, no blockboard, but it sounds like a type of plywood. What about the frets? Did you copy the shape of the back of the neck? The original is described as "extra chunky" -- Brian seems to have long fingers.

What's a "block board"? What did you darken the fretboard with? (I think the original is oak painted black.) The long neck pocket is original also, kind of a cross between a set neck and a neck through. The original has to be my favorite DIY celebrity guitar because it incorporates so many ideas that would be deemed impossible or crazy if suggested here -- oak body? oak + veneer = plywood? oak fretboard? paint to look like ebony? compression springs in the tremelo? knitting needle for a trem arm?

Two further questions. Who/what is Gilmer? Anyone have any experience with wood bleach?

A while back, someone posted pics of a guitar with a "white rosewood" fretboard. I asked here then and learned it is sapwood of regular rosewood, hence the quotes. How can I obtain something like that? Lumber companies would probably consider a piece like that junk, and it would never make it to market. On a related note, lmii offers fretboards down to a "3rd grade". Any idea how much sapwood would be in these? (I also like the just some sapwood look, like on a gotm entry a couple of months back.) Any other suggestions for wood type for a light colored fretboard that isn't maple?

If you try the actual "screw until you move the threaded insert thing" , be really careful. The finish may stick to the insert and crack, and it is also easy to crack the wood doing this.

If you go to a lumber yard that deals in quality hardwoods, the wood is usually rough sawn, in somewhat randon lengths, widths, and thicknesses. For a fee, they run it through their planers, sanders, joiners, etc. to make any size you need. Some places even offer bandsaw services, and would cut the body shape for you (but these places are much less common). They usualy charge quite a bit for these services, so I'd look for a local cabinet or furniture shop. Some schools offer woodworking classes also.

I don't know of any pics of the wood blocks, but basically, loosen or remove the strings and the springs, position the trem where you want it, examine the gap (bottom of the guitar) between the rear of the trem block and the wood of the body, and that's about how big the block should be. You may have to experiment with the size and shape of it, but if the block fits snugly, it should stay there (and ld the trem where you want it) no matter what strings you have on the guitar--or even with no strings. From the thread -- I have seen bridges which, when parallel to the body, had a like 1/16 inch gap below them. Could either pull these past parallel until the back touches, or could lower the whole trem (this could be as simple as screwing the post screws down (some modern Strat style two point bridges) or involve routing (Ibanez Roadstar) I think "float" might affect tone. But the solid way is not necessarily worse.

Maybe I'm overlooking something simple, but is there an archive for all the guitars of the month? Thanks much

Always wondered how these work. Do you lower the planer to the desired depth (essentially drillingg a shallow, flat bottemed hole) and then make a bunch of other similar, slightly overlapping holes OR do you lower the planer and then slide the workpiece under it?

What exactly is "white rosewood"?

Some people make a wood block for this, but the easiest way is usually to add springs. Loosen the claw, add springs, and tighten claw until the tremelo hits the body. Don't overdo it (I've heard too much spring pressure can crack the wood). For me, .011s have always been flush in the back with five springs and only moderate tightening of the claw screws.

If you like the body, I'd just forget the Jackson neck and find a real RG neck. If you go this route, the pre-AANJ necks are different (I think this is what you are describing) -- these old ones are essentially 22-fret necks with a 24-fret fretboard. The overhang is pretty long.