nollock

You can put the truss rod in either way, have a look at the picture on the right hand side of this page. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Truss_rods/Adj...Truss_Rods.html Having it at the neck is easier access, but slightly weakens the headstock. But thats a non issue as far as I can tell as most guitars have it at the headstock, and are problem free. As long as the distance from the nut to the bridge is correct, it doesn't matter where (within reason) you put the nut. I wouldn't leave more than 10mm though. Dont know what is usual for a Tele neck but very little acording to this pic. http://www.nymphusa.com/tele/tele-tint.jpg Btw, mistakes are good cause they help you learn ;-) chris

I tried West System epoxy as a grain filler and it pops the grain briliantly. Far more than anything else I have tried. More than KTM clear waterbase laquer, and a bit more than Rustns plastic coating. Just seems to realy soak in. So if you want a deep tranparent finsih, epoxy grainfiller is a good choice. (Using normal grain filler reduces the depth of the finish in my experience) The fact that epoxy drys rock hard is also an advantage, it will add extra resistance to dings. If the wood behind the finish will resist a fingernail pressed into it then the actual top coat has a much better chance of doing the same. Probably not an issue if your doing a thick coat of 2-pack poly or somthing like that, but used underneath waterbase laquer it could be very usefull extra dingproofing. chris

Parker guitars use graphite to cover the back of their necks, iirc they also use graphite fretboards. chris

What you want is somtimes called a "planer", somtimes a "planer/jointer", somtimes maybe just a "jointer". It will surface the wood and joint it. For example.. http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=32525&recno=1 So you run the wood through flat to get a perfectly flat surface. Then you run the wood through with the just planed flat surface against the fence, that will give you a square edge. The fence is basicaly a guide, it keeps your wood going through straight, and when needed it can keep it going through square to the blades. If it has an adjustable table, spinning blades, and a fence it's what you want. You can't (as far as I know) thickness wood with a planer. If the wood is fatter one edge than it is the other it wont correct that as it just takes a fixed flat depth off. For thicknessing body blanks i use this router Jig. I run the router up and down the steel rails so its cuts a fixed height. It's not much fun, it's time consuming, and its probably not very safe. But it works for me

You are talking at cross purposes! Komodo, the planers you are talking about are "surface planers", big machines with fixed tables. Eg... http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=32553&recno=6 What Wes is talking about are somtimes called "planer/jointers" or somtimes just "planers". Smaller machines with adjustable tables. Eg.. http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21722&recno=2 In my experience most people consider a "planer" to the machine Wes is refering to. Most often what you will find in a small workshop. peace

I would have though part of the reason for using an I beam is that it has good a strength to weight ratio? But as carbon fiber is lighter than wood the weight is irelivant, so it jsut becomes a case of what is strongest and most convenient. For example an inch square rod will be stronger than a similar size I beam, easier to use, and make little differance in terms of weight. imho chris

He's expensive but you do get great service and top quality. Craft Supplies are cheaper but with variable quality. (Imo)

Yeah, i have the perform thicknesser. Anyway I'll have a look in the manual and see if it says anything about the rollers. chris

What would i do to the infeed and outfeed rollers? chris

I'll try bigger support table and see if it helps. The cady definatly rocks when the end of the wood goes past the entry or exit roller. Ie. when goes from 1 roller to 2, or vice versa. I have tried wedging the cady solid which does help, but didnt fix it entirely. So it could be snipe & a less than solid cady. chris

A planer / jointer & bandsaw would be first on my list. A thicknesser isn't that important imo. I got a cheap (£170) Perform thicknesser and cant rcomend it. There's a small amount of play in the cady which means it leaves a small step at the start and end of every piece of wood that goes through it. Alot of these cheep tools are all the same (probably chinese) and just rebranded anyway. I checked ebay and saw the same thicknesser under 3 differant names, and it was still cheaper at Axminster. Its fine for general work, as long as you arn't doing anything large, but any wood for guitars has to have the steps removed by the planer afterwards. And while it may be around 10" wide, it doesnt have a powerfull enough motor for 10" wood anyway. (except maybe balsa wood ) Ie, in my experience a cheap thicknesser aint much good for guitar work.

What guitar? I cant see no guitar??

http://www.waterslide-decals.co.uk/model_decals.html http://www.decalpaper.com/ might be worth a try to print your own?

You could coat it in epoxy, then lay it between two pieces of stiff smooth plastic with a weight on so as to press it dead flat and even, squeeze out any spare epoxy. If that isnt strong / stiff enough on its own, lob a layer or 2 of carbon fiber matting on it.

I am having problems with Rustins over epoxy (West System), it doesnt seem to dry properly, still slightly tacky 24 hours later, still soft 48 hours later. I did a test yesterday in case i mixed the rustins wrong and got the same result. So it doesnt seem to like West System. Anyway i got some System 3 clear coat & Silica thickener from LMII today, so i'm going to try that, also going to see if mixing the Rustins & silica will work. <fingers crossed> chris

I have read that West System epoxy doesnt shrink when it cures, although it would be best to email them to make sure. http://www.westsystem.com/

You can also use a clamp & straight edge as guide against the straight edge of your router base. It means you have to measure the distance perpendicular from the edge of the cutter to the straight edge of the base and then clamp the straight edge that far away from where you want to cut. In case you dont know, you should be carefull of what direction you cut with the router. In *general* the blades should pushing you away from the wood, so that if the bit catches it doesnt drag the router in farther but instead it pushes the router out away from the wood. So to actualy remove wood you have to apply presure rather than the router running away with you trying to restrain it. chris

Cheers Setch, I am doing a test run with epoxy as grain filler today. chris

I think the point of IR lamps is to heat, so using UV would defeat the point. Some paints are UV curable, but I think that has to be designed into the paint. Normal paints that cure by oxidization and evaporation of solvents would need IR. I am also fairly sure you need good airflow, the less solvents in the air around the guitar the easier it is for them to evaporate off. just my 2c chris

Thats good, it'll save me hanging the gun with its nozzle in a cup of thinners like i did last week Just read some of your website and have a couple questions about your loverly LP finish, if you dont mind. Did you use grain filler? Could you point out the spray gun you use from axminster, I've been trying with a 1.4mm gun, which i now think is too large for guitar work. Certainly not that easy to do a burst with it. Did you get the Oxford PSL in the UK? Have you tried it yet? cheers, chris

Tru Oil is polmerised linseed oil, at least that is its main constutient. "Its unique blend of linseed and natural oils" Danish Oil can often contain either tung or linseed oil, or both, and other things. And posibly the oils have been modified aswell. So, it is best to stick to a brand of oil that people recomend because a tin of "Tung Oil" or "Whatever Oil" could be mostly pure, cut with other oils, polymerised, added solvents, or added anything. It could even contain no "Tung Oil" at all! There is a wealth of info on this subject in the library of archived messages at MIMF. http://www.mimf.com/ You will need to register, and its not an easy site to navigate, but there's loads of great info there, around 30 archived threads just on oil finishes. chris

you said "Nobody else will likely ever know but me, but it still annoys me" If somthing you cant see anoys you then I suspect you need to redo that fretboard. Put it down to experience and try again, they dont cost much anyway. chris

If they rout it for a lefty trem then you would be fine. I guess (i am not sure) it would just be a case of using the lefty template to rout the hole. I'll post some pics later on tonight, anything in particular you want a close look at? The the trem cavity perhaps?

I have an SRV sig model sat next to me right now, it's being looked after while my cousin is renovating his house. Personaly I dont care for it much, I much prefer his cheaper Texas Special Hot Rod. Anyway ..... One big problem i see is that the routing for the trem is differant as it has a left handed trem. A left handed trem on a right handed guitar needs the trem pocket fliped verticaly. The extra room for the part of the block that the trem arm screws into will be at the top rather than the bottom. Feels like a 12" radius fret board as the earlier poster said. The one i have here is a Pauo Ferro fretboard, although earlier models where of a differant wood i think. Just seems like a normal strat otherwise. If you want me to take a few pics so you can get a closeup look at just ask. I'll post em in this thread if you want, or email them. chris

I agree with Greg! Its nice to have easier access but it's not that important. Definatly not so important that I would modify a guitar, even a cheap one. If you want to make it sound and play better, try some new pickups and polish / level the frets.