weekendofsound

I'm sorry to pull off topic a little (AND rant) here, but I have been thinking about truss rods today, and they just don't make any sense. I have a few guitars, and I've played very many, and it seems like having low action is more a matter of luck than anything else. I have a guitar I found for $100 that has lower action than almost every other guitar I have played (including $1800 models from the same company,) though I dislike most of its components. This weekend I played a Godin 5th avenue that had SUPERBLY low, buzz free action, sitting right next to two others that were simply average. People on some forums have actually scolded me because I "don't understand" truss rods or action, but I've taken my guitars to a number professionals, who have charged me to accomplish what I am able to do at home. I know many players like their necks "perfectly straight," but it seems to me that the neck should basically have the same curve as the vibrating string, and account for the vibration radius of each fretted note. A truss rod doesn't really account for that well. It produces a curve over 18 inches or so, not ~25, so the trough of the curve is well off where it should be. If your neck doesn't weather well, then you're basically screwed if you want low action. I don't know. I understand that not all players want super-low action, and that my standard is probably a little high and my disappointment probably has something to do with the wild new england weather, but it seems like the industry has rested on its laurels in fixing this, and throws truss rods in more as a matter of custom than any real functionality. Has anyone here ever worked with carbon fiber rods? My thinking for my first build is that I'd like to put a very rigid rod in the neck, gorilla glue it in, and then do all of the curve on the fretboard. I'm just not sure if carbon fiber would be rigid enough to hold the wood in a perfectly straight position (I have never worked with it.)

I think the problem with a wax would be that you would regularly need to reapply it? I've never used them on guitars, but I HAVE dealt with floors before. I've heard Tung oil or linseed oil might work, but I would definitely suggest you test either on a sample piece of wood to check if the properties are going to work/feel right for you. If you are doing this to avoid toxic fumes, I am going to give non toxic acrylic resin a shot pretty soon (within the next month or so?) and I will leave my results under my thread for it.

This is ABSURD. Very, very impressive.

Thanks for the information! Any pictures? And what kind of epoxy? I just looked at your website, and I just thought you'd like to know that I am seeing a bunch of coding when looking at the "guitars" page. It may be my browser. But your logo is really cool.

So, I am looking to make a few original guitars, and I am really hoping for everything to be non-toxic and "eco-friendly" as much as possible, both for my own safety as well as my sensibilities, as I hope to shift this into a career, or at the very least, an involved hobby. As far as I know, the best thing to use as far as non-toxic goes is acrylic resin (pmma.) I'm sure many of you are loyalists to the more traditional means, but I have worked as a painter and with them for years, and I know that no matter how many precautions you take, there is still risk involved. I also realize I probably wouldn't want to drink acrylic resin either, but at least I PROBABLY wouldn't die. I've found a couple of places that I can get small sets of acrylic resin colors for automotive and airbrushing use, but I'm really interested in being able to mix it myself so I can create custom colors, and also have it available in larger quantities. I WILL be starting off on a smaller scale, of course, but I am curious to know if any of you have ever used acrylics? Do you have any suggestions as far as the best type of tint? Do you know what would be best to thin it out? Or do you have any other suggestions that would also be non-toxic? Whenever I get into this, I will be sure to post pictures, but any information/knowledge/advice is greatly appreciated. Another thing I am curious about experimenting with is using brass for inlays? I think it would be a very attractive material to use, though I realize I would have to coat it in something (acrylic resin, perhaps?) and there is of course the issue of wood expansion vs. metal expansion (or lack thereof,) so I am concerned that over time it might just shift enough to fall out, though I have seen stone and copper used. Have any of you used anything like this in your guitars?

What I SAID was that when I take it to professionals to correct the problem, they just raise the action a lot to a point where it's uncomfortably high for me to play, and the buzz is still present. I, therefore, just put the action back to a comfortable position so I can use the rest of the neck, and then lower it in the summer, when it is much less a problem. In having discussed it with multiple professionals, none suggested I have them do anything to it. I'm talking about a minor annoyance here. The guitar still plays. It doesn't need a new nut, if it did, I presume someone who has looked at it would have suggested it, or fretwork, when I asked them about these things. When I put a straightedge up to it, in theory, the neck is perfect. frets 12-22 are perfectly flat, while a ruler placed on 1-11 will show a little bit of space under them. But it still buzzes. Also, I really do appreciate the input of those who have actually listened to the problem, rather than just having a quick read and being insolent.

this is my guitar: Ibanez Jetking

Very, very slight buzzing when open. It is a bolt on, I use 11-48 gauge strings. During moister months, the problem is less noticeable, so I don't really want to have something to move in and out every few months, nor do I want to make permanent changes that make things worse during the summer. I guess I could try even heavier strings, but I feel like the additional diameter would counteract the extra tension. As far as my setup being "wrong"- I've taken it to several professional luthiers over the last few years with the same result every time- it buzzes slightly less, and the action on the 12th fret is the larger part of a centimeter. If I wanted that, I could do it myself and save $15. A guitar neck is usually set at an angle with the body, therefore, a perfect neck will counteract that angle on the first few frets, so the guitar between the nut and the bridge should be a wide "u," rather than a wide "v." This isn't just some conclusion I came up with myself, it's something I've been told by real professionals, but they've also told me it wasn't something it would be worth their time or my money to fix. Theres a lot of very experienced luthiers in my area, including William Cumpiano himself. Same result with every one. Beyond that, it's completely unnecessary to be rude to someone on a guitar repair forum.

Alright, so I have had my guitar for 5 years, and every winter I get some problems with the frets. first of all, and what I'm wondering most about, is fret buzz on the first five frets. I know this is because the neck is actually too straight, and if I mess with the truss rod, the action around the 12th fret is too high (acoustic levels.) and the buzz is still there, but on fewer frets. If I raise the bridge, I get more or less the same problem. I figure, sanding them down a little might help, but since it's over several frets, it could also just mean that it'd be totally ruined. I suppose I could... take off the fretboard or something, and try to warp the wood to the correct position, but... I don't want to do that. At all. there is also a tutorial on this site describing purchasing a tool as well as an LED, and discovering the location of the buzz this way, but shouldn't this work just as well with a D battery and the LED? Whatever I do, I have a few scrap guitars around to practice on. But I guess none of them suffer the same problem, so testing wouldn't apply. Other winter problem is that the bottom of the frets cut my index finger. I think what I'm going to do to remedy this is double up on painters tape, with the metal bare, then get fine grit sandpaper and take it down a little. Any suggestions, thoughts, or improvements?

this is... amazing, and I greatly appreciate that you took time to help! So, the humbucker capacitor would be connected to the tone pot, correct? I got orange drop caps from someplace, and the ratings were uh... .33uF for the p90s and a .22uF for the humbuckerr

yeah, p-90s are single coil. well, i wanted to have the humbucker go in and out however I wanted, but I realized that the volume control should do that (I have an unusual guitar where the volume has very little bearing on the volume. I might also need to resauter something, but the only potential thing shouldn't have any influence) But the p-90s are a standard set (bridge + neck), not a middle and a neck, so I wanted to have those go through the switch, but NOT the humbucker. this is how I PRESUME it'd go (without listing the ground, which I need some help with), and I KNOW I'm a little confused about how the capacitors attatch. hum----------vol--------------------------out | / tone / p90b----------------switch---vol------/ p90n----------------/ | tone

right, and a 3 way switch between the p-90s.

I haven't been able to find an adequate wiring diagram for two p-90s and a humbucker, and two volume/tone sets. this is my problem. does anyone know how this schematic would go?

I've looked at a lot of websites, but I don't want it to be like a fat strat. I just want there to be a standard 3 way switch for the p-90's (counterindicated by my earlier post...)

So I recently started putting together a project guitar, and I have a very limited understanding of the wiring aspect. what I'd like to do is basically put together two separate wiring diagrams- I want the humbucker to go on and off, and two p-90s that are the standard on/all/on, and for both types to have their own volume/tone pots. and I don't know how I would do this?