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Thanks guys for all of the help and advice. I'm fortunate to have the tools... the ability to use the tools is another story. Rich, didn't put the guitars up next to each other to see if they were different in size... GW, I spent last evening downloading Steven's guitar build videos, great reference. That guy's style of teaching is great. I appreciate you guys being there. Rubin

You will have to read up on guitars. You might get away with a good first build. But that level of tuning will depend on alot. Thin the top near the edges to .90 will help. Scallop braces will also help. GW... thanks for the reply. I guess you caught me on the reading up... I was looking for the easy solution. Not having built an acoustic, would you recommend someone who publishes a good tutorial on building one of them. Thanks, Rubin

I need a little help... I have a tele on the bench about two weeks from finished and an acoustic is next on the list. Where I need a little help is, this morning I was able to side by side compare a Breedlove Focus and an Alvarez Yari. The difference in tone was amazing... My concern is as I'm planning and building my acoustic (right now walnut back and sides, top one of the spruces, neck either maple or cherry) how do I adjust for things like fullness of or lack of bass, or other tonal variables? Though the Breedlove sounded great... it is distinctive in the lack of bass. I just want to know before I end up with a guitar I don't like. Thanks Rubin

I get a lot of satisfaction building my necks. I thinks you're cheatng yourself of some real enjoyment if skip that part. Give it a try... :-) Rubin

Thanks Brian, Any suggestions as to what I can do to get a finish on this thing. I have covered it with CA and sanded that down... the finish remianed gummy and scraped right off. Used Stew Mac water based grain filler and it stayed gummy... and scraped right off. My latest trial is wiping all if it down with denatured alcohol... and re spraying. I checked it this morning and it looks better but I'll have to see this evening. I would go with Tru-oil but I have an inlay on the headstock and would like to get a finish over that. Thanks again, Rubin

Hi there, I am finishing a neck and am using Minwax polyurethane. The neck is cherry with a rosewood cap on the headstock. After 3 days of drying time the finish on the rosewood is gummy. The rest of the neck is great. Why is this happening and what can I do to fix it. I have always used ebony on my headstocks... this is the first time using rosewood. Help! :-) Thanks in advance, Rubin

Grindell, It's good to hear that they're worth the money. Everything I have bought from Grizzly has satisfied me. I'd be interested in following a tutorial if you are going to do one. Rubin

Hi Dugz Ink, I have some that has been thru the kiln but I haven't used it yet on a guitar. It is pretty dense and is very yellow in color. Almost golden. It will require the right design to carry the rather bright color. I have worked wit it a little and it does machine well... router, drilling sawing etc. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has tried a guitar out of it yet. Rubin

That thing is sweet... I have a scratch SG I'm building for a gift with a 25" scale (it's ready for finish so it's too far along change) I really love that 27" :-)

Hi sscovill, The binding usually doesn't fold over the top. It sits on a ledge cut into the body and has enough thickness that it shows both on the side and the top. It comes in straight strips of many dimensions... (send for a Stewmac catalog and you'll get a good idea of what they look like. The catalog is great to have around as kind of a wish book. :-) The binding is then formed to follow the contours of the body. Be careful using high heat or open flame to help bending the material. Cellulose based binding can burst into flame on you. As said before masking tape is your friend while working with bindings... Hope some of this helped... Rubin

Hi there, I just finished the neck I am using on an SG I am building for a gift. I bound it thinking that I would finish it in lacquer but have decided to go with Tru-oil. Do I need to tape off the binding and leave it clear or will the Tru-oil set up over the binding. Thanks in advance for the help. Rubin

Hi there, I am getting ready to do a blue burst on a sasafrass SG style body and will use black paint for the outer color. Do I need to use gloss or flat for the paint. I realize with a clear finish over it the difference shouldn't be much, but would like to use the experience of others to keep mess-ups to a minimum. Thanks... :-) Rubin

Hi there, Check out: http://www.nymphusa.com/tele/ I think this is the one you're looking for... :-) Rubin

Hi Matt, The answer to your question really depends on the equipment your friend has. If the bandsaw can handle a one inch blade and has a fence that can guide your cutting the bandsaw may be the way to go. My experience (limited to bookmatching some maple for an LP cap) maple being as hard as it is, causes the blade to wander as you cut and generates a lot of heat. I used the bandsaw because the piece I was re-sawing was about 8" wide and the table saw blade wouldn't make it thru in two passes. (Thinking about it now I could have used the band saw the cut what the table saw didn't get) The chance of having to plane out or sand out any wavering would probable negate any loss you might get from the wider saw kerf of the table saw blade. Be careful with this either way that you choose and have fun... :-) Rubin

Hi Curtis, Grounding a TOM is usually easy. Depending on where the control cavity is located you can come in thru there or thru the bridge pickup cavity. Drill a hole from one of those into the TOM post holes. Run a ground wire from a good solid ground (a vol/tone control pot etc. ) into the TOM post hole. Be sure to strip the wire enough so that you make contact with the knurled part of the TOM mountin post. Pressing the mount into place will make contact with the ground wire and effectivly ground your strings. Hope this helps. Rubin