nollock

Brilliant Jay! Hehe, should of read the stew mac info, it didn't occur to me that I could use a bench drill. Anyway after reading the other thread I just found those cheap arbor presses in the uk, so might get one of them anyway. It was the price of the arbor press that was putting me off tbh. cheers chris

In case any in the uk is interested you can get those cheap presses from axminster. http://www.axminster.co.uk/category.asp?cat_id=208228

idch: As you're in France I assume ordering form the UK would be no problem? couple of uk retail sites: http://www.axminster.co.uk/category.asp?cat_id=207673 http://www.mackay.co.uk/acatalog/Routers__...ccessories.html couple of manufacturer sites: Mabey find out if what you're after is avaible from the big brands? http://www.trendmachinery.co.uk/profinder/ http://www.freud-tools.com/routerbits.html I think Southpa's advice is the best though. Try and find a 1/4 inch collet for your router. (Using 8mm router bits is going to narrow your options a hell of alot.) Axminster's techincal dept is very good in this respect, tell them what you want and they will usualy find it for you. I managed to get a replacment collet for my old Makita router, its been discontinued for around 12 years so I wasn't hopefull, but they found me one. Wasn't cheap but still a fraction of the cost of buying a new router. chris

Hi, i dont realy want to fork out for a fret press but have read its the best way to get the frets well beded in. So couldn't i just order a caul, make a small caul holder / arbor type thing that I could use to hammer the frets in with? Like this... http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...sing_Arbor.html Ie, rest it on the fret and tap it with a hammer? Should be better than just using a fret hammer shouldn't it? (At least for a newb like me) cheers, chris

Imo Kevan could have been a bit more diplomatic. I mean the guy opens with "I am sure this has been asked a million times" which is not a statment of belief its just one of those things you say, tentetive steps into a new forum, an ice breaker. And Kevan beats him over the head with it. If he is so easily angered then he should not be a moderator. It was the guys first post, and perhaps now also his penultimate. Of course the newsbies need to be told the rules but if its done in a way which scares them off then its a bad thing imo. Give them chance ffs. chris

IMHO it's all nonsense. A vibrating string has a bunch of harmonics, plenty more than the first 10 are still audible. So a conservative example of 10 harmonics all with differant wavelengths, each one has an equal number of nodes to its harmonic number, so the fundamental has no nodes, the 1st harmonic has 1, the 2nd harmonic has 2, ect... By the time you get to the 10th harmonic, there is already a total of 55 nodes on the string, i guess around 35 individual nodes as some will be on the same spots as other nodes. So asuming a roughly even spread thats 1 for every 3/4 inch. Where ever you put the pick up and fret the string there will be a node over the pickup. And thats not even counting the fact that the magnet field of the pickup is probably an inch or two wide. Which anyway will counteract the effect of the nodes. If you measured the string vibration at the exact point of one of these nodes you would indeed find that the harmonic the node belongs to is absent from the sound. But a pickup is not a single point, it is a wide field, and that node is going to move about depending one where you fret the string. So there may well be people who swear that they have experienced the effect of these nodes but all I have ever seen is subjective opinion. They may well have experinced some differances from pickup placement, but that could be for a whole bunch of other reasons. The node placment theory doesn't stand up to even basic scrutiny, it has more holes than a Phlagarian Multiwhore from the planet Bonk. just my 2c chris

Cheers for the help, got it sorted now. chris

Hi, whats the best type of drill bit and the best method for avoiding splintering the back of the wood when drilling a hole. I remember reading somthing about this but cant for the life of me remember what it was. cheers, chris

IMO it's the trem. On the LP the strings are seperatly fixed to a solid bridge, therefore any increase in tension is almost all taken up by the string itself. On a strat the strings are fixed to a floating bridge. Increase the tension on a single string and some of that extra load will be balanced out. You will still need the same tension to hit a specific note but the strings will feel less tight as you have to move them further to achieve that extra load. Some of the load is lost via the springs and other strings. My bet is that it is of greater effect than an extra 1/2" of scale length. For example, if you tuned the whole guitar up 1 whole tone you would expect the trem to lift somewhat, you would actualy need to have turned your tuners a bit further than if the trem had stayed solid. In respect to string bending that extra movement would be felt as less tension. chris

Anyone give me an opinion on the ABM Non-Tremolo Bridge for Strat®... http://www.universaljems.com/cart/bridge/SB%205110-010.jpg Probably a fair bit of effort to set up but I like the idea that all the bits are going to be solid, bolted down, maybe good for sustain? cheers, chris

Just thought some folks might find this usefull. (Not sure if this is the right forum.) Basicly they sell Inserts, flanged / non flanged, m4, m5, m6. They also sell tee nuts, m3, m4, m5, m6. Just ordered some m5 tee nuts & m5 inserts. If anyone wants to see close up pics just ask and i'll post 'em once they arive. http://www.modelfixings.co.uk/captive_nuts.htm chris

Figure some folks might find this usefull... Basicly you download their cad software, design what you want and it gives you a quote! Software is pretty easy to use (do the tutorial first) and while it is obvioulsy expensive for small quanitys is quite cheap (brass & aluminium is anyway) for large quantitys. You can get your parts chromed and stuff aswell. Seems like a briliant idea!! http://www.emachineshop.com/ chris

Hi, I glued up a body blank of mahogany back and a black limba top. When i cut out the body shape i was fidling with a small offcut and breaking it up in my fingers and it split apart at the glue join. So I tested another offcut, and it is fairly solid but but if forced apart with a chisell it does pull off some bits of either wood here and there but mostly follows the glue join (about 60% of the time). I aint to worried about the body falling to bits but I am wondering if my glueing technique is dodgy cause previous woodworking errors when I have had to split apart a PVA woodglue join has resulted in splintering the wood to bits, no nice split at the join. Might I be clamping the wood too tight? Should the glue be left on the wood for a few minutes before clamping? cheers, chris

Mebey he just wants to check they are of consistent quality? chris

Hi, what size bolts / inserts should be used for a bolt on neck? I have an idea to use M5 (5mm) bolts as that is the closest in size the screws that are normally used. I searched the forum and it seems some people are using differant sizes, I dont realy understand the american sizes anyway. What is 8-32? Or 10-24? cheers chris

Thats settled that then :-) Wes: Do you mean a laminate neck will improve tone / sustain? cheers, chris

Is a guitar neck better made from a single piece of maple or from 2 or more splices? Given the choice which would you go for assuming strength and stability is the main concern. cheers, chris

Thanks joej, lots of great info and well explained. Thanks southpaw, a pic is always good :-) Gonna try and find some threaded insert thingemys and some T nuts, have a muck round on some spare wood and see which I like. cheers chris

Hi, from what I can tell "bolt on necks" are actualy "screw on necks". Do any manufacturers actualy use bolts? Couldnt the neck be attached with bolts thru the actual neck and body? Mabey if a small plate was fitted under the fingerboard with the bolts in, then the nuts could be fitted at the back of the body? (ok not ideal but bear me out) A screw is going to pull much more at the poiint where it goes into the wood. And where it actualy penetrates the wood it may cause a slight buldge which will affect the contact area. Where as having the neck and body sandwitched between two plates will result in more even presure across the join. Hence better contact and better sustain? Anyone tried this? Or is it a daft idea ? chris

I take it you use that stuff for sanding the wood & the finish? chris

whats the best sandpaper out of this lot... sand paper and what grits do I need to get? Would 60,120,240,500 grits do? Or do i need the inbetween ones aswell? cheers, chris

righto then, I'll have a muck round with the angle grinder and rough bit of wood tomorow. I asume it needs a flexible rubber sand disk attachment? I think my bro's got one of those for doing car body work. cheers, chris

Hi, whats the best way to carve the top? I tried out a few ideas on an old bit of wood and found a spokeshave to be the easiest to use. Just need to be carefull to alwasy go with the grain. I tried an angled jig with a router which was good for getting a consistent angle but not for geting a smooth contour. To much moving and angle adjusting seems to be required. Very fidly. Anyway, the bit of wood I tested out on had been previosly painted and I found the paint incredibly helpfull in that i could see clearly where the end of the carve was. I had a strong paint edge contour to work to. Kind of like if you were carving plywood you would see the contours through the seperate splices of the ply. So i was wondering if there is anyway to use this to carve a body? Is there somthing that could be aplied to the wood that wouldnt soak in but would act in a similar way? Mabey its a daft idea but i did find it realy helpfull. Any sugestions or do most people just us a spokshave and patience? chris

So does it matter how fine the ebony dust is? It would be ok to make it with some rough sandpaper i guess? cheers chris

Hi, i am putting an ebony fretboard on my geetar. I dont want binding, or at least visible binding. I also dont want to see the bit of the fret that is pushed into the fretboard. (Whats that called?) So i figure i can do it 3 ways... 1. Do the frets as you would when you pre bind the fretboard, then fill the end of the slots with black wood filler of some sort. 2. Bind the fretboard with ebony. Maybe buy a second fretboard blank and make my own binding strips? 3. Bind the fretboard with black binding. Maybe find some plastic binding that looks like ebony? any comments or sugestions of which will be the best option? cheers, chris