charlleyw

I have an es-135 with the p-100 (stacked soapbar humbuckers.) It sounds like the p90, but without the hum. If what you want is the true humbucking sound, by all means switch out. But if you just want to quiet things down you can switch to p-100s or just shield those suckers.

I agree about the triangular file. It's a bit more difficult to use, but it's more versatile. It allows you to create any shape you want. Last week we went to the beach, and I took a few projects with me. I forgot my Stew-Mac fret file, and all I had with me was a triangular file. It actually worked better (for me) than the stew-mac. As others have said, it's important to round the edges of the file so you don't dig into the fretboard. A bench grinder works, but be careful! Those things can send unsecured tools flying all over the place, so make sure to maintain a good grip as you work. Also make sure to cool the file off regularly as you work. (A bucket of water works.) Otherwise you can overheat the file and ruin the temper. DO mask the neck with tape. (DO NOT tape over a fender headstock, it pulls the decal right off.) Once you have the crown shaped to you liking you can use 220, then 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. Quarter it, fold it into little pads and run up and down the fretboard. This helps the crown. THEN use the 0000 steel wool to take out the vertical scratches left by the sandpaper. BUT, if you use a fine enough grit paper, there won't be many left. I did this last week, and didn't even need to use the dremel to polish. It took some elbow grease, but it worked!

Years ago I worked as a woodworker for about a year doing veneer work and sanding. (Furniture making.) It's traditional to apply the veneer to the panel first, then cut to shape. Since you usually want to hide the edge of the veneer, you want the edges flush, and the best way to do that is to cut the panel after it's been glued. That way if you bind the top the veneer joint is invisible.

Oh yeah, by the way, you can find a variety of hand tools, including and particularly spokeshaves at some antique stores. The antique lovers hang em on the walls. Woodworkers sharpen em up and use em. good luck!

I'm getting ready to dive into shaping my first necks. (Dang it, the summer is over and I have to go back to work and I'm not finished. . . grumble, complain, etc, etc.) Anyway, My question, addition here is about cabinet scrapers. It would seem to me that they'd be an excellent tool for neck shaping. Does anyone have instructions/suggestions for fabricating them to the correct radius for a neck? I suppose I could just have at an old sawblade (That's the traditional scraper material) with a carbide hack saw, but how to smooth out the radius? Any suggestions?

Ummmm. . . You might find that you can get wood more cheaply by wandering around through cabinet shops and lumber yards. I found a chunk of curly maple big enough for a top for $10. In the meantime the guys at the cabinet shop who do some planing and resawing for me sold me a piece of mahogany for $20 that as big enough to build a les paul body with quite a bit to spare. See, the cabinet makers out there end up with "shorts" that are all but useless to them, but mana from heaven to us. At any rate, that site looks like a good resource! Thanks, and good luck

Look for a PROTONE SQUIRE. They were made for 2 years in the late nineties in Korea to exacting specifications for marketing to serious players. For some insane reason the sold them under the Squire name, and they couldn't sell them for what they needed to get out of them. They were also priced to compete with the American standards. The quality on them is awesome. The wood, pickups, neck, even the cases were just fantastic. I've owned two. They sold for close to $700, but you can pick them up for $250 - $350. You might decide you don't even need to upgrade! Good luck!

Hey Dr. Jabsco, check out The Hardwood Store of NC. Last week they GAVE me enough mahogany to make a neck! (Course I found it in a pile of trash, but so what!)

Most lumber is what's called plank sawn. in other words they just slice it up. Quarter sawn wood cuts the log so that the grain is always vertical. It's stronger.

Call around and find a local lumber yard and or cabinet shop. Walk in and tell them what you need, and make sure to poke around in their discards if they'll let you. Since the cabinet shops buy in bulk their scrap is often plenty big enough to build guitars with. Look for a chunk of mahogany, poplar or ash. You should be able to get your wood for twenty dollars or so if you're smart and lucky. Also a cabinet shop should be able to help you with bookmatching and the like. Last week at The hardwood store of north carolina I got a chunk of curly maple big enough to cut a body (or two or three tops) for $10. And I spotted an old moldy looking piece of wood in a pile of spacers from incoming pallets that looked like mahogany. They GAVE it to me, and sure enough. . . it's enough mahogany to make a neck. Good luck.

Unfinished maple can also get stained and grimy looking.

I've never worked with Purpleheart, but this stuff is harder than walnut, curly maple, oak or zebra wood. A few minutes ago I went at a piece with one of my sharpest handsaws. Instead of producing sawdust I got tiny chips. The consistency is almost like stone or something. Still, I'm really intrigued by the possibility of using it for fingerboard material for my first few builds and saving the piece of rosewood I snagged years ago. So my question for you experienced builders is this: how do you think using such a dense wood on a fingerboard would affect tone? I'm afraid it would make it way too bright. Maybe I should just build a deck. Avery small one. . .

I agree it would make a great top or fingerboard, but the stuff is just so tough. I tried to dig into a piece with a chisel just to see what would happen. The Ipe won. . . Seriously, It would take a lot of patience, sharp blades and durable tools to work this stuff. If anyone manages to do it, I'd like to know how it went. Also it's so oily I'd be concerned about glue joints holding. What do you guys know about that?

Make sure you have the cabinet shop surface plane or drum sand the pieces to unifrom thickness, and plane the edges you want to join if you don't have the tools to do all that yourself. We seem to be working on the same project. Here's my body blank (Maple on mahogany.) I'm still agonizing over a neck design. What do you guys think?

Since I figured out how to post pictures I'm going to do a show and tell with the Ipe shorts I bought last week. Here are three of them next to a piece of American Walnut, a chunk of mahogany, some curly maple and a strip of zebrano. The stuff is so dense I bet it would sustain like hell, but like I said, I'm afraid of breaking my tools. . .!

Well Chris, I'm going to jump in here cause nobody else has. I think you've asked a lot of questions that . . . um. . . nobody knows the answers to. . . (At least I don't.) So anyway i'm taking a shot in the dark at answering part of this. But since I've been waiting to hear the answers myself, I might as well jump in. I think that laminating smaller pieces into one large body might affect the tone and sustain, but it would depend on how many pieces you laminate. I THINK you'd be better off using fewer, wider pieces. SG bodies are only 1 3/8 inches thick anyway. As far as attaching the neck. . . I haven't a clue. I'm a Fender kinda guy myself, and I'm currently starting to build (again) after a not doing it for a number of years. I'm going to start with bolt on necks and go from there. A great book that's often cited in this forum (I think) is Make Your own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock. It's pretty comprehensive. Check it out. . .

Thanks Jehle!

I’m posting this here in response to a question in another section. For years I agonized over how to re-saw lumber without a band saw. And even with one it’s a bear. When I was at the Apprentice Shop they used an old saw from a butcher shop, because it was the only one they could find that would open wide enough to rip a 10” board. I happened across the answer about a month ago! It’s called a frame saw, and it’s one of those “God, why didn’t I think of that” hand tools. I just built one last night, based on directions I found on this woodworking site. Basically it’s a rectangular frame with a band saw blade stretched across the middle. You start your cut with a regular back saw, then sit the frame saw blade into the kerf and start cutting. Detailed instructions on how to use the things are on the site above. I made mine from scrap maple and poplar. I got a bow saw blade from a local woodworkers shop for $6. I altered the design a bit to help stabilize the blade (I hope.) I also think I’m going to add vertical handles at the edge of the frame to make pushing the frame more ergonomic. Anyone else have experience with these? I could use any pointers and advise on using them I could get. I the meantime I’ll keep you all posted on how it works as soon as I get around to using it. And by the way, since I’m probably buying a band saw eventually, what’s the best buy for the money? And how the hell DO you upload pictures here anyway? Do I have to (shudder) use html?

JPL, that is gorgeous work!!!!!! I've made a few pickguards out of veneer. It works best if you use three (or more) layers, alternating the direction of the grain. clamp the veneers together between two pieces of plywood (and waxed paper of course.) However, I never kept any of those pieces long enought to know how they hold up. How do they wear, JPL?

I just bought several board feet of it last week. (Since I live within twenty miles of High Point NC, the "Furniture Capital of the World" I'm able to score all sorts of odd stuff.) The stuff is HEAVY AS HELL!!!!!! I have a chunk of it sitting here trying to figure out what to do with it. . . a piece 1X6X22 (inches) weighs as much as the body of my son's squire bullet that I just took the neck off, complete with bridge and pickup! It is so damn dense I'm afraid to even start working it. The guy at The Hardwood Store warned me that it's hell on tools. (I picked up a half dozen cutoffs just to play with.) I thought about doing a thin SG style body with it, but even that would weigh a ton. It's a pretty Walnut colored wood but I have the feeling it's going to be more trouble than it's worth. Anyway if you're interested the Hardwood store has a bunch of shorts (cutoffs) like the one I described above for about $2 each. (Or they did last Wednesday.) The shipping would probably cost you more than the wood. . . And BTW, I'd LOVE to get details on the curly stuff! It would be outrageously gorgeous!

Lucky, I've been wracking my brain on the same problem for. . . years! But low and behold ther is an answer!!!! It's called a frame saw. No, it's not a bow saw. check out This woodworking site for pictures and plans. In fact, I just completed mine ten minutes ago. It's still in the clamps. If all goes well I'm going to try using it tomorrow to bookmatch a piece of curly maple. (I'm headed in the same direction as you.) I'll let you know how it works!

I think Spruce is kinda soft for a lap steel. It's a tonewood used for acoustic tops. I had one of the mid 80s Bluesbirds with a spruce top, and it was so mid-rangy I got frustrated with it and sold it. What do the rewst of you guys think?f I'm thinking about building a lap steel myself with some walnut I've been hoarding for the last ten years. (My wife wants me to get rid of it.) Let me know how the spruce works out!

Scrape lightly with a single edge razor blade, then lightly oil with . . . whatever oil you like to use. (Lemon is my choice.)

A really cheap, fast and dirty way to start is by assembling a kit. (OK it's cheating. . .) you can get one off ebay for about $80 It helps to have a cheap "parts guitar" around to try out new ideas on. Come to think of it it's time for me to dig that old silvertone out. . .

What about mahogany? It's pretty easy to work, and you can call around to cabinet shops and beg and plead and they'll take pity on you.