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These are the little nuggets of wisdom I live for on this board. When they are dropped by the experienced builders here it makes my day. Thanks Perry. Best Regards, Mike.

This is "Mike's Mohog." Here are some pics: Here are the specs: Birdseye maple neck with slightly thicker than wizard profile and slightly thicker on the thumb side for comfort. 1/8 in allen nut, double-action Hot Rod truss rod adjustable at the headstock. Four coats of Minwax tung oil rubbed out with 0000 steel wool. Neck attached with 4 gold recessed ferrules. 25.5 in scale length, 22 fret rosewood fretboard with abalone inlays, abalone side dots with custom "triple side dot" at the 12th fret and Dunlop 6105 frets. Hand-rolled fretboard edges. Fretboard polished to a high gloss with 0000 steel wool and lemon oiled. Graphtech nut and black metal string retainer bar. Black Planet Waves auto-trim tuners with 18:1 tuning ratio. 2-piece honduran mahogany body with custom all-access neck pocket. Angled side output jack. Standard black strap buttons. Body prepared with 12 coats of Minwax tung oil rubbed out with 0000 steel wool and finished with a coat of Minwax finishing wax to give an edible sheen to the mahogany. Hum-Hum configuration with black humbucker rings containing a Dimarzio PAF Joe in the neck and Fred in the bridge position. Rear routed control cavity with custom mahogany stained flame maple control cover held with 4 gold screws. Black volume and tone controls with black 3-way toggle switch (bridge, bridge+neck, neck). Black Hipshot hardtail bridge with rear string-through body configuration with gold ferrules. Setup with 1.5 mm action and slight neck relief. Sustains forever and has a sweet meaty growl.

Hey Matt, Not quite the same way. It does deepen the grain effect much like simply wetting the wood. You're not going to get the same depth as a laquer finish, however. I will say that the tung oil is very complimentary with mahogany and it really brought out the birdseye figure in the neck. I'll look forward to seeing what you decide to do with the IMPALER. Best Regards, Mike.

hey Mahelcaya, The Dimarzio Joe is not quite as hot as the EVO that I have in my other homemade guitar, but it sounds sweeter. It's hard to describe. The EVO almost fizzles while the Joe chimes. Thanks for the complement. I like all of your mahogany guitars as well, especially "Custom Paul." Best Regards, Mike.

Hey All, I took quite a bit of time off over the holidays, but recently got back to work and finished up my JS6: Here are a few more pics. The whole thing is tung oiled (with additional finishing wax on body) with all black hardware. More specs: Birdseye maple neck 22 fret rosewood neck with abalone inlays and Dunlop 6105 frets 2-piece honduran mahogany body Planet Waves auto-trim tuners (18:1) Dimarzio PAF Joe in neck and Fred in bridge position Hipshot hardtail bridge Graphtech nut This thing feels just like my factory JS's and sounds sweet as hell. It passes my "sounds great unplugged" test with flying colors and it sustains forever. I'm extremely pleased with how this project turned out. I can't believe how much it looks like a real JS6. I don't think I expected to get this close when I started the project. Thanks to all those who offered advice and comments. Best Regards, Mike.

Hey Dave, Check out this link: http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/bridge...e_guitar01.html On page three of this tutorial, I swear I can see snow on the ground! And on page four he states that the temperature is 38 F. How cold is it where you live? Best Regards, Mike.

I really think you do great work Dave. This one is no exception. Now I know why you were asking about all-gold strings a while back, right? Best Regards, Mike.

Did you make the neck yourself? One thing that comes to mind is that your neck may be thicker at the heel than the Tele you are using as a reference. Just something you can check right away. Best Regards, Mike.

hey Dave, I used this one for my Wilkinson bridge guitar. I measured my template and it seems the only difference between the Wilkinson route and the standard Strat trem route (besides the obvious 4 floating trem holes) is that the standard Strat bridge posts are 1/32 in farther apart. Hope that helps. Best Regards, Mike.

Nice work Algee. I've never been a huge fan of the VH stripes, but I really do like yours. Keep it up! Best Regards, Mike.

Wow Rob! Great answer. Thanks for taking the time to post all those pictures. I'll probably find this useful in the very near future..... Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks RGGR! I've gotta ask, though, what is happening with your JS7? I was kinda of feeling like we were a team there for a while representing JS lovers. Last I heard I think your were still working out the finish. Any news? Best Regards, Mike.

Hey Darren, Not intentional, but a result from not using a roundover bit to acheive the true 1/2 radius on the lower bout. I did the entire edge radiusing by hand and eye using a surform and sanding block. Do we know if it was Rich that got that JS5 on ebay yet? That thing was beautiful. I think the Rainforest is my favorite JS followed by the Snake. I wonder what he paid for it..... Thanks for checking in on me Darren. Best Regards, Mike.

Yes, but if you read the fine print there's only one on the lot VIN#......... Seriously, thanks for the compliment. The good thing about the string ferrules is that they are on the back of the guitar. Best Regards, Mike.

O.K. Maiden....I took your advice! I went ahead and stained the control cavity cover with the mahogany stain I had. I did the Drak-black-sand back technique as well. I think it looks really cool. I don't know if it looks any more or less out of place, but in either case it looks very nice. Here's a look: I'm still bummed about the string ferrule holes being a bit out of whack. Live and learn. Here are a couple more shots: Different view of the back Close-up of control cavity cover Front of body after 10 coats of tung oil Thanks for looking. Best Regards, Mike.

I don't think your design is too narrow. The Steinberger guitars come to mind immediately (have a look here under the Steinberger link: http://www.musicyo.com/product_specs.asp?pf_id=897). One thing that might be an issue is how the guitar balances. A narrow design might be neck heavy. Best Regards, Mike.

Nice to see more progress Dave. What are your plans for the alder? Another JPMM? Best Regards, Mike.

Hey Jeremy, In the end I didn't use a grain filler. I got some good advice from forum members here and Frank Falbo gave me a really good answer to that question with regard to Ibanez guitars. He discussed several possibilities and it's his opinion that the Ibanez oil finishes such as on the JS6 are straight oil. After reading through his argument, I decided I agreed and went with staight oil. I'll probably finish with a wax coat as he suggests as well. I've got 5 coats of Minwax Tung Oil on the body so far and it's looking good enough to eat. The grain is still clearly visible (little pores), but it's not offensive at all. Looks like I'll be done with the body in a couple of days. I still need to: 1. drill the tuner holes on the neck 2. glue in the pre-slotted Graphtech nut 3. roll the fretboard edges and file the fret ends 4. final sand and tung oil the neck 5. assemble wiring and install hardware 6. final setup I think that's everything. Looks like at least one more week of work to do. Best Regards, Mike.

Dave, Lookin' good man. I still really dig that fretboard. Did you ever mention how you were going to finish the body? Are you going to stain it? I can't remember.... Best Regards, Mike.

Having just gone through the same process, I would say you did a fine job on the ferrules. Definitely not as trivial as it seems. I really, really, really like this guitar. A lot of original designs just end up looking weird, but yours doesn't strike me that way at all. Great Job. Can't wait to see how it looks with a finish. Best Regards, Mike.

Ohhh...nice Baker....and a Rivera too. You tone monster you! Nice gear. Best Regards, Mike.

Hey Maiden, Yes, the color of this particular piece of mahogany is very nice indeed. And of course, my outdated 1.3 megapixel camera isn't doing it any justice either. In person it really looks awesome. I guess it is a bit reminiscent of a Mushok, isn't it? Yes, there is a bit of router rash at the bottom of the pickup height adjustment holes. It really doesn't look as bad in person and for some reason the tung oil makes it stand out more. And as you point out, the good news is that that part of the guitar will never be seen, eh? Actually I haven't decided about the cotrol cover yet. I need to test stain a scrap piece of flame maple to see if I like that any better than the natural look. I know your vote is for the stain! Maybe I can get to that tomorrow. I'll post when I figure it out. Thanks for checking in on me. Best Regards, Mike.

Excellent idea. Probably your best bet really. Keep us posted. Best Regards, Mike.

I think you should be O.K. Where did you get the blank? It was kiln dried wasn't it? Was it shipped from an area of significantly higher humidity? I think I saw a post by Drak or someone who pointed out that if you sand or plane one side of a blank you should treat the other side the same way. The theory is that one side will respond to humidy changes faster than the other which can cause cupping. Not sure how accurate that is, however. Just some additional things to consider as you make your decision. My gut feeling is still that you should be O.K. regardless. Best Regards, Mike.

Yes, I understand your concern. The stakes weren't quite as high in my case since I am doing a bolt-on. If worse comes to worse I can just un-bolt, submit to W.O.D. (sorry for stealing your material Drak, but I couldn't resist!) and then make another one. From what I understand, it is not uncommon for boards to twist in the kiln. When they come out they are dry, stable and...twisted. Fix the twist and you should be good to go. If I were in your shoes I'm not sure what I would do. Tough call. Most likely I would try and find another blank. Let us know what you decide. Best Regards, Mike.