AlGeeEater

Got the neck blank in today, and man it's so sweet! 22 bucks for this piece of honduran mahogany, planed flat and plenty of room to scarf it (30" long). I'm never going to buy the stew-mac ones again!

I'm just waiting for the Stew-Mac shippment to come in with the truss rod, so i can route the channel for the truss rod, scarf joint the neck and rough cut the neck out.

Updates later!

Peace,

Chris

The steps are exactly the same as using gloss clear, except you're using flat clear now.

If you get the Ridgid 14" like me, you won't be let down! The only thing that needs to be tweaked is the stand, it's a bit flimsy but once you put a few 2x4's underneath the frame it's steady. You may also want to replace the belt on the motor to a link belt, and of course replace the stock blade. You'll be good to go! Thing runs perfect, no shaking at all, I can even stand a nickle on its side on the table and it doesnt move

Ha! That's exactly the same headstock as the First Act headstock, just reversed!

Hmm..you thinking what I'm thinking?

I'm thinking you wan't me to reverse my headstock, OR First Act is just one big copy cat?

I just routed the binding channel too. Pictures later, when I feel like it.

Well, i'm selling it for one so i'd like something a little 'personal' , but I think i'll go with the basic shape. I'll see if I can twist it a bit too look more original (even though 3 other 'companies' will probaly have the same exact shape)

I really like Maton link you gave me, the headstock works so good for that guitar.

The thing is, the short blank is TOO short period, as in the fretboard doesnt fit on it at all. To make it fit i'd only have 18 frets.

I'm actually going to go with the 30" x 3" x 7/8" neck blank from LMI. For 22 bucks, compared to Stew-Macs 55, it's a hell of a deal. Plus I don't need to saw it to the correct thickness or 'nothin.

But you will need to stack the heel though?

Yes, I just cut the heel off the old blank and i'm going to glue it onto the new one.

Back to the drawing board I guess, damn you First Act!

I was just fooling around doing a little drawing today when I came up with these headstock shapes. I'm not 100% happy with them, but it's a start. For some reason I feel like i've seen them somewhere before, but i'm not sure where.

Tell me what you guys think. Improvements wanted

I've got an S-10 too man. Love the little thing!

Anyways, you got away with a steal there, looks real nice. I wish I had just a drum sander/thicknesser, like a Performax one. That thing is massive though, hope you're got space for it. Plus, you got an extra 75$ to spend now

Lucky man, looks awesome!

Chris

The thing is, the short blank is TOO short period, as in the fretboard doesnt fit on it at all. To make it fit i'd only have 18 frets.

I'm actually going to go with the 30" x 3" x 7/8" neck blank from LMI. For 22 bucks, compared to Stew-Macs 55, it's a hell of a deal. Plus I don't need to saw it to the correct thickness or 'nothin.

I'll try that if the scarf doesn't work out. It should, LMI sells a blank 24" long and they say it can be scarfed fine so maybe i'll just have to be a bit more careful measuring this time

That's what i'm talking about!!

Much better!

Chris

Awesome! Looks great, nice and shiny.

The only thing that bothers me is this:

http://home.comcast.net/~going2spain/mikha...glossfront2.jpg

Where the light is in the lower treble bout I can still see sanding scratches Maybe i'm just a perfectionist but that would bug me to no end. If you're satisfied with it, then I am too (minus the sanding scracthes. )

Looks killer man!!

Chris

Anybody know if I can scarf joint a neck with a 26" piece of mahogany still?

He's gone and hopefully living a better life somewhere else.

..that makes it sound like he's dead

(he's not is he?)

I used to do it the same way as Erik did, but the vice kind of broke the plastic on my drill You have to be careful when tightening the vice for sure.

The drill press i've got goes from 900 RPM straight to 1,350 RPM, so I use it on 900 RPM. I've never ventured into using the 1,350, but i'm tempted to try it on some scrap. Maybe i'll do that tomr.

I guesso, maybe i'll just cut up a 2x4 in 26" and try to scarf it.

The body only wieghs 8 pounds man, I expect it to maybe weigh 10-12 pounds with the neck and hardware, but it may be less.

Thanks

Chris

I like soapbars better than jazzmaster pickups, just in terms of looks. Plus i've already routed out the p-90 cavities, but the jazzmaster cavities are still possible too.

Also, has anybody used the Stew-Mac neck set-neck blanks to make an LP neck? I cut the scarf on this neck 1-3/4" too close to the fretboard, and i'm not if I ca sucessfully cut a scarf with these sized blanks are 26" long. If anybody can get at me with info within the next 15 or so minutes I can order a new blank from Stew-Mac and it'd ship today and be here monday.

Anyone care to chime in? It's too late now, so the neck won't get started until Wensday. In the mean time I guess I could start carving the top, or just let it sit a few days, I don't know yet.

Yes, he does cover it in there, def. check it out (that was the video I was referring to in my other post btw)

I have a question for ya, do you have a drill press (i'm assuming no). I mount my foam pads in my drill press and buff bodies out using that now, it works great!

I have the same RO sander as you, and i'd personally never use it to buff guitars. For one, with the variable speed ones you can set the oscillations, and I think the RO oscillates too much ( i think oscillates is the word).

I'm going to have to find my manual on the thing to see it's specs just to be sure, but I remember in the DVD's Dan said to have the oscillations low.

OK, well I got some decent pictures this time. Today I just drilled the holes for pots, and the only thing I can really do next on the body is to carve the top, which i'm going to hold off on until I get the neck fitted.

Mahogany Back (I really love the mahogany on this one!)

Anyways, once I start the neck i'll get the pics. Probaly won't be until Monday.

Also, has anybody used the Stew-Mac neck set-neck blanks to make an LP neck? I cut the scarf on this neck 1-3/4" too close to the fretboard, and i'm not if I ca sucessfully cut a scarf with these sized blanks are 26" long. If anybody can get at me with info within the next 15 or so minutes I can order a new blank from Stew-Mac and it'd ship today and be here monday.

Thanks

Chris

I was looking for the exact same thread right before I was going to glue the top on for the LP.

I think the wieght has to do with the combination of the african mahogany (which was 13 pounds just for the blank, 15" x 1-3/4" x 21") and the maple top. Keep in mind, the body blank was a bit oversized, it was supposed to be 1.75" but it was more like 1.889" or so. The maple top was also thicknessed, about .900", but now everything is to the correct thickness, and it's just about par with Gibby bodies. I think once the top gets carved, and I do the tummy contour in the back it'll drop a good 2-3 pounds at the most.

Thanks

Alright I guess i'll just wait, thanks guys. Makes more sense that way too, now I just have to find white p-90 soapbars.

I actually don't mind how heavy my guitars are, i'm young.

Actually i've been pretty much doing manual labor and working out for my whole life, so it's not a problem now, but i'm sure as I get older things are going to catch up with me. Might as well enjoy it while I can!