John Abbett

Thanks, that's what I was missing. I didn't know who Perry was.\ -John

All, I bought some maple to make a few necks with, It's a large square chunk (5 x 5 x 40 ) that is basically quarter sawn. I can make the necks with the grain running horizontal or vertical. Anyone have a thought which is preferable? Looks wise, if I use the grain vertical, which would make it quarter sawn, the back of the neck would have straight lines going from the heel to the top of the headstock, and if I make it horizontal, the sides should have stright lines and the back should have some wave to the figure. .. I think I got that right. What about strength and warping tendency, I'm looking at maybe 6+ necks out of this chunk and can go either way. -John

Rich, Does "Perry" have a website? I gotta see something that you think is amazing... -John

I think it looks great too.. I have a question for this thread. I'm planning on doing something similar, and Rich said "The nice thing about the tinted clears is that you can control the shade much better than with wiped dye, and you retain the depth and movement in the figure." Does that mean I get a better result if I don't dye the wood with a wipe on, but tint the clear coat? I've always read that I put on some tint, sand back, put my color or multiple colors until I get what I want and then several coats of clear. Is there a second method that I'm missing? This is my first attempt. So, I'm looking to learn one method and get it figured out to where it works for me. Thanks. -John

I know that Brian Setzer uses it most of the time. He uses a Roland Space Echo from the 70's, a tape unit on almost all of his stuff. That gives me a baseline for his stuff. He sets it to 150ms with 1 echo. So that's analog. The digital space echo is about 250 bucks. More then I wanted to spend. Boss makes a space echo and so do others. Who else uses echo so I can look them up and compare different sounds. Any big artists known for echo? -John

Second set plain maple. Generic maple board out in the woodshed. It's going to be burst-dark on the edges anyway. -John

Thanks, I'll check it out. -John

Looks like Brian uses a Roland Space Echo from the 70's. Actual tape delay. It's pretty cool, but over the top for what I'm doing. There is a Boss version of the space echo, anyone got one? -John

Guys/Gals. I'm thinking about working on some Brian Setzer stuff. He uses a delay pedal to get the Rockabilly sound. The book I bought says 150MS delay 1 time for his stuff, but it doesn't say which one. Money is an object, if a cheaper ones does the same thing, then I don't want to spend extra on name brand. Do any of you use one? Any recommendations? Thanks! -John

I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Some blue dye from woodcraft, powder form in water. I ended up with a similar problem. I sanded it back and added a second layer of dye, and it came out much better. I think I hadn't sanded well enough (I was just testing). My lumber came off the band saw (Resaw) and it didn't work at all. I sanded part of it with my palm sander, and it was much better. I sanded to 320.. Please keep this threat posted with what you find as you work through this. I'm going through the same things. -John

Is that wood right off a mechanical sander or planer, or did you sand it by hand? Is it possible that some areas are sanded more then others? Just a thought. I know when I want to sand end grain to match for staining, I have to sand it a LOT more then the face grains. It looks like you have end grain soaking up the stain and the other grains not. Have you tried using a damp cloth to pre-wet the wood before staining? It helps keep the stain a little more even. (Damp, not wet). -John

I went back and checked, my second batch is slightly thinner then the first batch. Not much, but I'm sure that contributed. Also, I don't think I soaked the first batch long enough, I think they dried out. I was learning how to do the bending, and set two on a bench while I worked on the the first, the two on the bench dried out. The second batch, I pulled out of hot water and stuck in a plastic bag to hold the moisture. So it's a combination of things.. 1. Thinner is easier 2. Retain Moisture 3. Wait for the wood to give a little before bending. 4. Heat all around the bend, not just the middle of the bend. 5. Pay attention to grain direction, quarter sawn may break, and flatsawn may tear. 6. Use some sort of backing to help with smooth bending. 7. Practice on cheap wood before trying to bend that nice quilted maple. Any others? -John

It was curly, the grain was all over the place. The grain at the end was off at an angle, not quartered, not flat. I think it was either the type of wood was resistant to bending or it was kiln drid to death. It wouldn't budge, then it cracked across it's width. It was like the hot pipe wasn't getting hot enough, but it would sizzle water instantly. It was plenty hot. (Same heat I used to successfully bend the second set of strips). -John

All, So I set up my hot pipe, and resawed some nice curly maple into strips for my 335 I'm making. I sanded them smooth, and was all set to go. I soaked them for about 5 minutes, and tried to bend it on the hot pipe - NOTHING. I Cooked and cooked these thin strips, they would not bend. Sure, I could get a slight radius out of it, but not the curvy hornes I needed. Every time I tried to bend the strips, they broke. They broke across the grain. I spend 2 hours playing with different moisure and temperature settings. I ended up with a pile of half bent strips on the floor. Very disappointing. So I mixed up a stiff drink and wondered what I did wrong. The next evening I grabbed a hunk of air dried maple from the woodshed and cut and thicknessed it, soaked it about 5 minutes in the tub, put it on the hot pipe, and wham, bent like a champ. I got both the left and right bent perfectly, and broke one where I got a little carried away. It only took a few minutes, they are drying in the mold for a few days then they should be ready to go. The only thing I can think of is that the first set of Maple boards were kiln dried, and the second set of wood strips air dried. They were hard maple, but they should still bend. I don't know what type of maple the second set was, just maple. Anybody run across this, the wood that wouldn't? -John

I'm getting together a bender made out of copper pipe, a 500 watt charcoal starter and a light dimmer. We'll see how it goes. The most expensive part was the copper pipe. Metal has gotten expensive in the past year or two. The maple is not figured on the sides, I'm doing a burst, so it didn't need to be. I cut plenty of practice boards. I'll let you know how it goes. -John

How about maple? I'm getting my bender together to bend sides for a Maple 335.. Any tips? -John

Hi all. I'm in the process of building a short scale guitar for my duaghter. It's 19.10 inches. I was thinking about strings this weekend and was wondering if because of the short scale, I need to change the string size for each note? For example, E on a normal scale has a certain tension, but when I install E on a short scale, I'm thinking the string will have a different tension. To compensate for that, can I use larger or smaller strings to get the E and have a better feel? The guitar is not near being finished yet. So this is just thinking at the moment. If I'm blowing smoke I'm sure someone will set me straight.. What'cha think? -John

All, Does anybody know where the thread is about a guy who built his guitar on CNC, he did the neck and the body and everything on it. It was a hollowbody. It was a huge thread. I remember he had a HUGE roundover bit for doing the neck. I'm looking to get a reverse mold routed to laminate the top and bottom of my 335 project. I think it was just a thread about someone building a guitar, but it was all about CNC. -John

Hi, I have ES-335 plans which show the maple block in the middle going about 3/4 of the way to the end of the guitar. The guitar has an end block to join the sides and provide a place for a strap button. The Gibson 335 looks like it's got a solid block the whole length. I'm planning on putting a Bigsby in. I'm not sure that the maple block is needed the full length. The Gretch with the Bigsby is hollow under the Bigsby spring. It has a post under the bridge, but hollow except for that. Is there some sort of opinion on full length vs shorter blocking with a Bigsby? I would like to just follow the plans, but don't want to have problems with the Bigsby cracking the top. I'm going to use solid plates for the top, laminating a couple of 1/16 plates in place. It should be pretty strong. Traditional sides, pipe bent and then clamped to a mold. Thanks! -John

In looking at other smaller guitars, it looks like they use standard sized bridges. Fender appears to do so. Wouldn't making the nut and bridge narrower allow the child to access more strings? I drew it out with a full width bridge, and it looks pretty wide. Of course, if it were standard width, I could play it as a travel guitar. However hot pink with sparkles don't match my eyes very well. -John

All, My daughter wants a "Pink Sparkle" guitar. I have the pink and the sparkle figured out "thanks!" to help from members here, but after drawing up a great design, I realized the a normal sized bridge puts the strings pretty far apart for little hands. My scale is 19" and I can always cut a blank nut to and width. Has anyone seen a narrower fender style bridge? Failing that, how about the adjustment bars that are narrower, I could drill and shape some angle with the right width. Non-Trem. Baisc adjustable. Anyone got suggestions for me? Thanks! -John

Thanks, I'll pick some up and give it a try.

Wow what a link. That should cover the question nicely.. Thanks again everyone. -J

Thanks for the Great Response. I will give it a try and see what I can come up with. -John

So I'm at the Guitar Store with my daughter, she see's this guitar and loses it. DADDY BUY THIS FOR ME! I'm thinking I'm in trouble. Lucky for me it wasn't 100 bucks or we we would have walked out with it. She is still very young, so I'm going to make her a 1/2 or 3/4 sized guitar. My question is, is this paint something you can buy and spray in one shot, or is it layered, pink with the metalic flake on top? http://www.daisyrock.com/products/rockcandy/rc.htm It's the pink metalic flake "Sparklies". She was like me at a tool store.. She is going to be an expensive kid. Anyway, anyone done a finish like this? Any sources? Thanks. -John