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Ahh, much better start. Now you're moving on the right path. As for the the plans you were considering, the website says that they are drawn full size. If you need a version of turboCAD that doesn't need cracking try the one here: Guitarbuild.com download section I successfully used that program to print out a tiled version of a Ibanez JEM (see this tutorial for printing TurboCAD files to scale: TurboCAD Tutorial) Oh, by the way, if you view the tiled PDF file of the bass you are considering keep in mind that 100% is the view, not what gets printed. Try and print the file to see what I mean (it indicates 26 pages)! Once you print out all the pages you simply need to trim, cut and paste them together in the right order and you get a full size paper template that you can transfer directly to your alder blank (like I did) or use to create a wood template (a whole different topic). See Derek's excellent router tutorial to see how these are used: Derek's Awesome Router Tutorial Good luck and have fun! Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks Dave! After seeing a few misaligned inlay jobs myself I was a bit nervous when I did mine. However, I just worked off of the carefully drawn center line and used the "X" trick to get the midpoint between frets and it turned out O.K.. I used my drill press with it's laser guide to route the inlay holes and used epoxy to cement the inlays. The template you see in the picture is from Stew Mac and it does both the standard Fender trem route and the Wilkinson/Gotoh route. The reason it's in the picture is that I almost forgot to take a picture before routing and I had already carefully aligned and double sided taped the template to the body! Since those pictures were taken I've done all the routing including pickups, trem and control cavity. Oh, and I'm going to stick with 22 frets. I have a USA Jackson Soloist with 24 frets and I almost never make use of the extra 2 frets and when I do I find it very awkward. Maybe scalloping would help, dunno. Or maybe more practice (what a concept)! I'll bolt on the neck and post some updated pictures in the next day or so. Thanks for taking a look! Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks Dave. I'm going to go with the satin all the way around on my maple neck then. I've been meaning to ask that question and you answered it for me. Thanks! Best Regards, Mike.

Man, that thing looks good enough to eat! Very nice. I especially love the neck. Just beautiful. One question. It looks like the neck pocket is slightly angled back. Is there a reason for this? I could understand if it was a TOM bridge. Just curious. Again, nice job! Best Regards, Mike.

I've seen the sanders that Litchfield is talking about and they look perfectly acceptable. Or, you could do like I did and buy a drum sander bit for your drill press (assuming you have one). I think I paid less than $10 for the bit and it worked very well. I pretty sure Jehle uses the same setup. Just a thought. Oh wait, is the bobbin you're talking about what I'm calling a drum sander bit? In either case I suppose my suggestion of using your drill press is still valid. Let us know what you decide! Best Regards, Mike.

Yes, we've met on the Petrucci board Mike. I've been spending most of my time here lately now that I've gotten into building (as you have)! I check in over there now and then and it seems like it's been a bit slow there. Yeah, it sure is massive. I think one reason they did that was so they didn't have to bend the maple for the forearm drop. I'm sure it affects the tone as well. On my project, I never intended to have a maple top, but I over planed my alder blank and had to add the top to get the 1 3/4 in thickness I needed. I didn't feel like trying a drop top on my first guitar, so it's going to be a flat top. Although I didn't show the back of my guitar, I too am going to contour the heel similar to the AANJ and use neck ferrules instead of a neck plate. Should be quite comfortable to play. Good to see you over here Mike. When we finish our projects maybe we can take our expertise over to the Petrucci board and help some of those guys out! Best Regards, Mike.

Dave, Did you use satin on the fretboard side of the neck as well? I love that guitar. Do I see scalloping on the last few frets? Thanks. Best Regards, Mike.

Hey Doyle, You've seen this USA Custom right? http://www.jemsite.com/usa/gallery/ucew1/ucew1qm/index.htm Nice example of a natural finish mahagony back/maple top axe. I personally like the natural finish over the mahagony back in this case. I say go for it! I'm 90% sure that I'm going with a natural finish on mine because I like the look of that USA Custom: My Guitar Project Best Regards, Mike.

Hyunsu, I had a feeling you were in Korea. I just got back recently from a 10 day trip to Korea as part of my Tae Kwon Do training. We spent 5 days in Incheon, 1 day in Seoul and the rest of the time on Cheju Island. On one of the days we went up to the DMZ (demilitarized zone). Very scary. In Seoul we got to train at the KuKkiwon, or World Tae Kwon Do headquarters and train with 2 members of this year's olympic team. Man they were fast! We were probably very near your office! I loved the food and I loved the people. It was very hot and very humid, however. How do you keep all that nicely figured wood dry? Best Regards, Mike.

Both great replies and just what I was looking for. Thanks for the graphic Derek! Best Regards, Mike.

With all due respect to you more experienced builders, I have to reiterate that I did contact Stewart MacDonald about this exact issue. Here is the reply I received: Dear Mr Smith, Thank you for contacting us. You can install the Hot Rod to adjust either in the heel or the headstock. I'll provide you with a link to the detailed instructions on our website. Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions. Best regards, Mike McGovern Stewart MacDonald 1-800-848-2273 www.stewmac.com Again, with all due respect, I have finished installing the exact same slotted Hod Rod truss rod with the adjustment at the headstock end and have tested it out and it works just fine. I recall someone else on this forum did the same thing with no problem as well. I suppose it's up to SguitarM527 to decide what he feels more comfortable doing. Personally, I didn't want to have to take off my neck every time I needed to make a truss rod adjustment. Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks Ki! Patience, yes....but actually I've grown pretty attached to the maple top and may omit the grip in order to keep more of the maple figuring intact. And as luck would have it, most of the interesting figuring is right where the grip would go. With no grip it will look more like this USA Custom which I really like: Cool Ibanez USA Custom Does anyone know what kind of stain was used for this guitar? Honey amber? Best Regards, Mike.

Shouldn't be a problem since the truss rod channel is 7/16 or about 0.44 in deep and you're only shaving 0.25 in off the top for the headstock drop. Like I said I have the same truss rod exactly and installed it just as I've described no problem. Here is a picture that shows the truss rod channel extending into the headstock: If you want to see the rest of the guitar and some other progress photos check out this thread: My JEM Project You're doing fine. Trust me! Best Regards, Mike.

Hey all, I normally get to pick up a new guitar about once a year (usually the result of a tax return or work bonus). Well, lately I've been pretty happy with the production models I have and quite frankly have become bored with most current production models. Let me qualify that....bored with most current poduction models I can -afford-. I've always liked JEMS, but I feel they are a bit over valued. Therefore, this year I thought I would take the money I would normally spend on a production model and buy some tools and wood and books and take a shot at building my own guitar. A JEM tribute seemed to be a logical choice and not too difficult for my first guitar. Since you all have been so kind as to offer me advice along the way I thought I would share with you my progress. So here is the first picture: This is a one-piece alder blank that I over-planed, but recovered by gluing a 1/4 in quilted maple top to the blank. Thanks Wes! The maple was in the special "sale bin" at Global Wood Supply in San Jose, CA. It was about 3/4 in thick and 6.5 in wide so I used my planer to bring it down to 1/4 in then cut it in half and glued the two pieces together. Even though it's not bookmatched, I think it came out quite nice. By the way, that red carpet is in the workshop so please don't think that my house is that dirty! This is a photo of the neck after quite a bit of work actually. It is quartersawn maple that I routed for the truss rod and glued a Stew Mac pre-slotted maple fret board to. Then I rough cut the outline and headstock. You can still see my centerline mark. Here I test fit the neck. You can see the edge of the maple top and some glue running down the side of the alder blank. This picture was taken after the body had been cut and sanded and the neck refined a bit as well as the inlay holes drilled. Here is the body and neck after I finished fretting and adding the abalone dot inlays. Finally, here is a close-up of the body and neck. Again, thanks for all your advice so far. I participate in a few forums and this one is hands down the most friendly and supportive forum. You guys show a lot of patience and restraint and are very supportive of everyones' work. You should all be very proud. Best Regards, Mike.

Forgot mention that you should widen the channel at the very end where the adjuster sits. Keep the channel narrow all the up to the end of the brass rod holder thingy then widen the last 1/2 in or so. Best Regards, Mike.

Howdy, Don't forget that the headstock will drop about 1/4 in from the underside of the fretboard. Look at a Fender neck from the side to see what I mean. This is how Fender avoided having to angle the headstock back (that and the use of string trees). Also, you need to extend the routed truss rod channel about 3/4 in past the nut. These two things together should give you plenty of room for the truss rod nut and provide access as well. I bought the same slotted truss rod from Stew Mac and had no problem installing it for adjustment at the headstock. I went so far as to email Stew Mac tech support and they kindly replied that there is no problem installing the rod this way. You're doing great! Keep on going! Best Regards, Mike.

Hi all, Well, I'm at the point where I need to do the bridge routing and I'm using the Stew Mac template for my new Gotoh/Wilkinson bridge. The instructions say to measure a distance of 25.25 in from the nut to the bridge posts. Is this an accurate way to assure that a final scale length of 25.5 to the bride saddles will be achieved? How do you experienced builders measure the distance to the bridge posts? Also, what exactly to you use to measure the distance, i.e. a straight edge, tape measure, pre-cut string? Thanks in advance for your sage advice! Best Regards, Mike.

I just finished putting in a Hot Rod truss rod with the slotted adjustment nut at the headstock end. I checked it out and it adjusts just fine this way as Dave said. I may be at a slight advantage, however, since I purchased the rod with the rather large slotted adjustment nut which I have no problem accessing even though it sits low in the channel. I bought this one on purpose since I hate trying to fit in the wrench and crank on those small allen nuts. Best Regards, Mike.

Ditto on the drill bit method. For $5 it turned my drill press into a very workable drum sander. I had great success using it on my first guitar project. Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks Wes. I thought that might be the answer. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything I might be missing in doing it that way. Thanks! Best Regards, Mike.

Hi all, I need to ask for your advice (again)! Sorry to be such a sponge, but I now have a neck blank that has been planed and routed for the truss rod and am trying to decide if I should cut the outline of the neck before or after I glue on the fretboard. I have a Stew Mac pre-slotted maple fretboard that obviously isn't shaped yet. I could "A" glue the board on and shape the ouline of both at the same time, or "B" shape each piece separately and then glue them together. What is the conventional wisdom on this one? As usual, thanks for your advice! Best Regards, Mike.

Ouch....that sucks. I read through enough of the thread to get the general idea. If any of the other new members here want to read about these idiots here's the link to the thread: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...topic=3072&st=0 Thanks for the link to your tutorial Jehle. Best Regards, Mike.

Jehle Wrote: Lawsuit? Did someone try to sue you for posting this technique on your website? Thats odd. Great idea by the way. Best Regards, Mike.

Thanks for your replies. I assume the blades are fairly sharp because the planer I'm using is new and only been used on a couple of boards. I may have been a little aggressive on the plane depth, though not by much more than 1/32. Next time I'll try a little less I suppose. So, no way to recover from the tear out other than sanding? I was thinking maybe some kind of filler, but I suppose that wouldn't be a very transparent fix, eh? Thanks again. Best Regards, Mike.

Hi, I was thickness planing a piece of quilted maple and ended up with quite a few spots of tear out. I believe that this is not uncommon with figured wood. My question is how are the tear outs corrected on a maple top? Is there some kind of filler that would work to fill in the divots? Do I just have to sand down until they are gone? Thanks in advance for your advice! Best Regards, Mike.