Bmachine

I am intrigued by the various options for mounting the tuners behind the bridge or, even better, behind the body itself in a headless type of situation. Most of the time this seems to be done using a Steinberger type of arrangement (or the new highly promising one from Ola Stranberg) but I am curious to find some threads or discussions about using standard tuners in that position. The "Lobster guitar" uses them as, I am sure, are others. I did a few searches here but it is hard to find the right keywords for this and I came up empty. Are there such threads here? Or does anyone have any experience in doing this? I was hoping to be able to use some standard Schaller or Sperzel tuners for this. Thank you very much for any help. Bo

Drak, Out of curiosity what else so you use the scroll saw for as far as solid bodies are concerned? I have a possibility of getting the "Delta SS250 Shopmaster 16" Variable Speed Scroll Saw" for very cheap and I wonder if I should take advantage of it. But, besides cutting inlays, I'm not too sure what I would use it for... Thanks.

Actually, the blade they sent me clearly states "Made in U.S.A" on the package.. It was night and day compared to the original one. I have my drill press right next to it. I then lift its table to be at the same height as the band saw table. On the other side, the Ryobi belt sander has a platform that is at the same height also. It would also be very easy to build a little extension all around the band saw table.

Thanks all for the great info. I did a test run with 5 min epoxy syringes on a small piece of alder last night and it came out real nice for the most part. I had a few air bubbles and other bumps which I need to look into. Probably laid it on too thick. I find it to be a little too hard to spread thinly. Maybe the 30 min or one hour stuff will spread better. Apart from that, it is glassy smoth and should make the rest of the operation a breeze. Dries ultra fast too of course. So all this being said, what is the difference between a sanding sealer and a grain filler. Don't they basically do the same thing? And after this coat of either epoxy or CA, do I still need a coat of primer? It seems like, after a nice smooth snading job, I should be able to spray the color right on that, no?

Here is another vote for the Delta 9". Personally I do about 3 or 4 bodies per year. I use this bandsaw pretty much everyday, only an hour in the week, more on the weekend. I bought it a year ago. I read a million posts including all the user comments on Amazon saying "This thing is just crap". Well, I disagree completely. I think most people who are dissing this saw just don't know how to set it up or don't know to respect its limits. The only bad thing I found to be true is that the blade that comes with it tends to stray to the left. I called Delta about this and they imediately sent me a new blade, free of charge. This one was a "real" Delta". (They probably put a cheap taiwanese in the original box which is pretty stupid.) Ever since I installed it and set it up properly following instructions found on the web, this thing has been working like a charm. Just go nice and slow, don't cut hardwood thicker then 2 or 2-1/4 and this is a great inexpensive saw. Would I trade it for a 14"? So far, I have not had the need. Remember that the bigger saws also take up more room. If that's an issue for you (as it is for me) you have to factor that in also. I think a lot of these Delta Shopmaster entry level tools are really quite a bargain. Again, just know how to take care of it and respect its limits.

Thanks for the tip, Wes. I'll have to go and get the slower stuff then as I only have the 5 min one right now. Any tip on applying the gooey epoxy around the tight curves of the guitar? Wow Drak, that is some, uhhh, wildly evocative figure on that tele! I'm curious as to your next step, here... Obviously you will leave the wood clear but the electric blue... ?

Thanks Drak and Wes. Actually I just got a Craftsman Respirator for $16.99 this morning but I thought it was only for dust. But now that I think about it, I vaguely remember its package saying something about some type of fumes. I'll have to go back and check what it says. I've been using epoxy to fix holes in routing templates and bodies. I never thought of using it as a grain filler until I read about it here the last few days. I use the two syringe stuff from Home Depot. I think it's made by Loctite IIRC. I also feel that it might be a bit too gooey... wouldn't lay very flat. And it's kind of a mess to use... But then again I haven't tried to use it paper thin yet... Any special to know about using it for this purpose? Thanks again. P.S. Edited for spelling

Thanks guys! However, I did test this a couple of weeks ago and I find that you will definitely see the grain in alder if you don't seal it adequately. Now, maybe my sanding wasn't good enough but I put 2 coats of sanding sealer and after sanding that, I could still see the grain through the color coat. Very small, mind you, but you can definitely make the very fine lines of the wood. Drak, I was at Rockler and they have CA in thin, medium and thick (I think...). Which one do you use? And they have these small 2oz bottles How much do you need for a strat type of git? http://www.rockler.com/ecom7/product_detai...erings_id=10562 Also, going on the flat parts of the body will be easy enough with a credit card or so but along the contours...? Would I "contour" it with my finger inside a rubber glove maybe? I don't have a respirator but I intend to do it outside. Any prob with that? (I'm in L.A.) And finally, Drak, you mentioned that Bondo is ineffective in this case because the grain is too thin. Are there other advantages of CA vs Bondo in this case? Thanks a lot!

Based on what I read after a search I am thinking of using either a thin layer of medium CA glue (as Drak recomends) from Rockler or a thin layer of Bondo(as Maiden recomends) before applying the primer. There are lots of posts on either one but I haven't found a discussion of one vs the other. Any advantages/inconvenients of using one vs the other? This will be for a solid color so transaprency is not an issue. On this project I will have an auto body shop spray the color and clear. Thank you very much for any input.

Thank you all for the good feedback. I have decided to get a Hipshot hardtail to try it out (indeed, crafty, it is a "flat" body). Looks good, price is right and most people speak highly of it. The Schaller 475 is also getting a lot of good press. But more expensive and I'm not crazy about its very "open heart surgery" design.

I read a fair bit about the Hipshot Hardtail and Tremolo. Would either of these be a good option for this purpose? Thanks

I am building a new guitar for my son. He plays in a punk / metal band. I am trying to find out what bridge to use since I have the option to use pretty much anything. It has to stay simple (no Bigsby or Floyds) and could be tremolo even though he probably wont use that part of it much. I've been using Mustang bridges on Jaguars mostly so I'm not too sure what else is out there for a "general purpose" good quality bridge. Thanks for any input.

I agree with you on the mimf for the most part. Yet at the same time, many of the people on that board have built guitars that most of us can only dream of... I agree very much on the prep of course. But the post I was actually referring to was from a guy who had been doing Bondo on cars for a very long time (20+ yrs). And he had some strong reservations about using it on guitars for some reason. But at the time, I was not considering using it so I did not copy it on my machine. Damn I wish I could find it again... Maybe somebody else read it also? In the absence of that, as I said, I have read plenty of positives also. Thanks!

Maiden, I, on the other hand, was not joking. I have read some very positive things but also some negative things about using Bondo on guitars. If I remember correctly it was primarily on the mimf. A quick search returns a few things like this "never use Bondo on wood (it just doesn't adhere well)" "there's a woodworker's version of Bondo called Rock-Hard Water Putty. It is a powder with the consistency of flour, and it is mixed with water. When this stuff hardens, it does so just like bondo - very hard. It's dirt cheap at Home Depot or other places like that. It doesn't shrink like Bondo does." It should be noted that there are far more positives comments than negatives, btw. But it's always good to know both sides. Note also that I am just reporting some observations here. I have not tried it myself so I have no opinion one way or the other.

Hmmm, I went to both Home Despot and Lowes this morning and between them they only have 3 choices in sanding sealers: Parks/Pro Finisher Water base Minwax Oil base and Olympic Oil base I see the Parks Lacquer S&S on the Parks web page but it seems the HDs in my area (L.A.) are not carrying it... Any experience with the Minwax or Olympic ones? Thanks