toddler68

Tommy Victor from Prong eBays, too. Although, I think he is broke.

Beautiful! The overall package is awesome, and I really like some of the little details like your thin fret and side markers and the headstock/neck contrast. Really nice work

Thanks! I took no offense to your comments -you aren't the first one to call BS on me! At some point, I definitely want to do one with the neck lams showing through capped wings. As for the burl, yeah I really like this one. The customer picked it out on eBay and let me bid on it. It's a burly explosion! I can't wait to see it with a finish.

Well, after consulting with the client about the action, I've decided to recess the bridge. I think he may want to switch over to an X bridge also (which I know very little about) I should probably wait on its arrival before I cut the recess.

Natural binding is in the plan. The client is very pleased with the upper fret access -it's got 26 frets!

Burled, yes. I don't believe spalt and burl are one and the same.

That's what I keep telling myself... it's my new mantra. "It's OK man, it'll turn out fine. You'll never see it once it's got a finish on it. Don't cry..." I used a 1/2 inch thick top on the first one and I love the way it sounds. Of course, this one's a little thicker but I think I lost about a third of the mass anyway when I did the carve. Maybe it's the nature of the burl, but it's not as bright as you might think. I put strings on yesterday and it really sings... and yes, it sustains like a mutha! My coworker tried it out this morning and I thought he was going to have a coronary. I've got him right where I want him

Using the scaled up drawing, I'm showing that you would need a piece 9.5 inches wide by 22 inches long... man that seems huge! Could that be right?

I'm going to have to start taking crappier pictures because nothing gets past you guys! It is indeed slightly off -less than a 1/16th.

Believe me, I tried to talk the guy into it, but he said he wanted it EXACTLY like mine... except with dual pickups, a Strat tremolo, Sperzels, different laminate wood... blah, blah, blah

It's not just you. The point peaks over the top on one side, and the bottom on the other. It's not really crooked, it only looks like it wants to be Truth be told, after I finished it, I wished I'd just made it symmetrical.

I may have mentioned in some other threads that I'm building my next guitar for a co-worker. Since he knows I'm just learning, I've decided to build it to his specifications but I'm not holding him to the purchase until it's finished. If he likes the end product, he'll buy it. If not, I'll just keep it and consider it a learning experience -or I'll sell it to someone else. Anyway, the design is identical to my first one except the accent laminate is purpleheart and it will have a tremolo, dual humbuckers and Sperzels. Body is mahogany with a 3/4 inch burl maple carved top which will eventually be finished with a transparent purple burst. Hope you like it! tremolo routing top laminated on front view with top carved endview 12th fret marker If you're curious about the construction, see my previous thread: previous thread

True, dat. Great looking piece of lumber, tho!

Is it me or didn't Buzzsaw used to have much better prices?

I'd use a band saw. A table saw will work but you're immediately losing 1/8" from the saw kerf and planing will remove even more. I would also recommend that you have the pieces thickness sanded -figured wood doesn't typically fare well when planed. Yes, find a cabinet shop in your area. It will probably cost you about $10 or $15 to have it sanded. In fact, you might take the whole chunk of wood to the shop first and see what they'd charge to book it for you. I'll bet it's fairly reasonable and you'd probably be getting the most out of the wood if you let a pro do it. Just my $.02

Ahhh... the beloved Dremel. Along with vise-grips and duct tape, it's one thing no shop should ever be without. I will give it a shot.

I measured with the calipers and it's exactly .275. I don't know how I could have been off by that much. Once it's fretted I think it will be right-on but with little room to lower the action. btw... any suggestions on where to get shorter saddle adjustment allen screws?

You are using Jumbo frets right? I agree, you need to get the frets on the guitar before you adjust anything. Just curious, what is the distance between the top part of the neck and body top? You did calculate everything out before you started didn't you? ← As jumbo as I can find. I know the distance is the thickness of the fretboard -likely 1/4 inch. It worked out fine on my first one, but there have been some changes on this build and it seems I measured the bridge height wrong. I'm sure it's not a total loss, but I'd prefer to learn from this experience. Well, there are some gaps in my chronology. I've taken pics but they aren't posted yet. If you look at my last build, it is identical (except of course for the bridge )

I wish I had the option -it's a neck-through. My main concern is that I'm not leaving myself much wiggle room (upward mobility of the bridge) should I need it in the future. Also, the saddle height adjustment screws are backed way out and therefore sticking up. Do they make shorter ones? I don't want to mutilate my strumming hand I will definitely take your advice though and wait until I install the frets before I fire up the router.

I won't know for sure until I get the frets in, but I think I might need to recess the Strat-style bridge I'm using. The bridge itself and all the saddles are already set as low as I can get them and the strings are still sitting way off the fretboard. Does anybody know if I can I safely rout a recess to achieve the lower string height? Will it create any negative side effects? A problem which lowering the tremolo presents is that it will probably stick out below the bottom surface of the guitar -meaning I might have to have the trem block machined down I hate tremolos!! Thanks in advance for any help. Todd

Do you mean the bridge plate is actually touching the wood surface or it is just parallel? Right now I've got a Strat bridge installed where the bridge plate sits about 1/32" off the body but perfectly parallel to the body. Is this the way it's supposed to be?

I agree with the above - while I don't see 24.75" scale on their list of fret slotting scales they've got 24.625" which is closer; I know they'll do 24 frets, I've had them do it on three fingerboards in the recent past, and they very well may be able to nail the exact scale you need; they've always been real good about trying their best to answer any wierd request, be it non-standard sized wood or requests for specific figure or whatever. I'd call them, they're real easy to deal with on the phone. The wood I've gotten from them is some of the prettiest I've seen. How far off is that angled slot? Might the reworking be covered by the fret's crown? Inlay? Working on sleep deprivation is a bummer though. I've been there. ← Call them up -I too had a very good experience with them. Just because it's not listed doesn't mean they can't do it. They've done a 26 fret board for me. Give it a shot!

Man, if I hadn't just bought a new house I'd be all over that thing! You are not even an hour away from me! Sheer torture... sigh. Oh yeah, good luck with the surgery btw.

That pic may be crappy, but I really dig the composition... I hope you flushed first

Being that they are both Adobe products, I would assume they are the same tool. I don't use PhotoShop much for this kind of work though. I prefer vector based programs like Illustrator. Just prints out nicer and cleaner, especially in large scale.