unclej

i always assumed that they were gotohs as well but contacting fender is a good idea. think i'll drop a line to nichols guitar as well. thanks all.

ok, had a customer call me this morning with a question i couldn't answer. he wants to replace his tuning key buttons on two american made teles with wooden ones and didn't know which ones to order. allparts lists ebony buttons for small and large schallers, for gotoh and for small and large grovers. i assume that means that they have different sized holes to slip over the machine's shaft so anyone have an idea of what would fit on fender tuners? one other thing..i searched with all the combinations of words i could think of and couldn't find the thread that i'm pretty sure i read covering suppliers of custom made wooden buttons..anyone remember. i'm going to google it in just a moment..i'm just curious to see if there's someone out there making them that i won't be able to find on line. thanks

never mind...right after i posted this i found a classical guitar forum that gave me all the info i needed..if one of you mods would like to delete this thread that's fine. thanks

fryovanni..that's exactly what i'm thinking but i know that it's more complicated than that. i don't know about his guitar but this bass that i'm fixing doesn't have any interior bracing at all..none...it doesn't even have any kerfed lining around the perimeter. it has a sound post between the bridge pup and the bridge and then the neck block. i'm assuming that the structural integrety depends on the block and the stiffness of the sides where it joins the body. i'd almost be willing to bet that his guitar doesn't have any bracing either and if that's the case then the movement has to be caused by the movement of the block.. as you can see in the picture of the bass (link below) this one doesn't even have the front brace that his seems to have and in my case the joint around the top and back inside the horns and again on top of the block has failed and that was all that was keeping the neck from moving. it's really hard to really analyze Bernard's axe without being able to see it in person but i'd still be willing to bet that that's expanded foam and if it is there were a bunch of glue failures and that foam didn't do anything but fill the voids. if the screws through the front brace into the block don't help then it's either remove the block, which would be a total pain, or make a really cool lamp out of it. http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/867653/bass1.JPG

just send your donation to me and i'll make sure that it gets into the right hands... or you could click on the home page link and in the upper right hand of the page there's a link called "about donations"...

your new pics confirm..to me at least..that there is movement of the neck block. i've got an old hollow body base in the shop right now with the same problem. in my case the glue between the bottom of the block and the back of the guitar had broken loose and it was fairly easy to force enough glue back into it to stableize it. in your case i'm still afraid that someone has forced expanded foam..used for insulating around windows and plug boxes..into the voids. if that's true you'll never be able to get glue back into the joints and solidify it again. did you ever try to cut that stuff and see if i was right about it not being glue? the only possible easy fix that i can think of is dependent on whether that cross brace in front of the block is solidly attached to the guitar. you might..and i stress might..be able to drill a couple of pilot holes trough that brace and into the block and then put a couple of wood screws in. that would minimize the neck movement but it might not eliminate it completely. that also depends on whether or not the block is still sound and not soft.

i just took another closer look at the picture and unless i'm mistaken that's not glue that's seeped out..it looks like expanded foam..look right at the top where the skin has been removed from it and there are voids..air bubbles if you will...if it is it would seem to indicate that the neck block had come unglued and the neck was moving and someone shot the expanded foam into the gaps.. take a sharp knife and see if you can easily cut the part that oozed out..if you can then that's probably what it is..if it is indeed expanded foam i don't see any way to fix it other than carefully cutting/chiseling out the entire block and all that foam and starting over with a clean surface and then replacing the entire block..

ok, i didn't realize that it was a bolt on neck..i saw the pic yesterday and didn't respond but having the hole for the neck pup may help you troubleshoot it more. assuming that you have the screws sufficiently tightened try the bending it with your hand thing again and see if there's movement at the bottom of that block where the glue has sqeezed out. if not see if the block itself is compressing..i suspect that it is because of what you said about being able to mark it with your fingernail. if the block has rotted or become soft it will probably have to be replaced and i don't really know how much trouble that would be having never done it. it appears to be glued on the bottom and three sides so it could be a big pain to get it out. it just occured to me that the existing holes in the block for the screws might be wallowed out as well. do the screws just slide through or do you have to screw them to get them to make contact with the neck when it's in place?

the method of correction depends entirely on the cause...and there are several possible causes. the block that the neck is set into inside the guitar may have come unglued..the dovetail joint inside of that block may have come unglued ..the truss rod, if it has one, may have broken or may simply need adjusting. so here's a question or two that may help you decide what's wrong.. does it have a truss rod? when you say high action how high is it at say the 10th or 12th fret? when you sight down the neck with no string tension does the neck appear straight? back bowed? front curved? now try this without string tension..put the guitar in your lap in playing position..brace it tightly against your body with your right arm and push and pull the neck with your left..holding it up around the headstock. do you feel it move where the neck meets the body? can you hear any cracking/scratching like noises? post your answers and perhaps one of us can narrow down your search.

the geo cities site wouldn't come up for me but the other did..i didn't read the whole thing but i personally wouldn't feel real comfortable removing the frets with a hammer and chisel. too many chances for screwing up your fret board. get yourself some flat jawed plyers. and i don't think i'd use wood putty either. my experience with them is that they're brittle and i'm afraid that the first time you had to adjust your truss rod it would crack and fall out. if you buy some veneer in a color you like...either close to the board or completely contrasting..it's really not that hard to match the radius. trim them close to the fretboard with a single edged razor blade or an xacto knife and then wrap some fine grit sandpaper around a small flat block and then carefully sand the veneer even with the fretboard. at least that's how i'd do it without a radius block.

thanks..i'll give it a try.

i totally agree..i've got a great little delta 12" which i use a lot..but not for guitars. if you're gluing up several different types of wood to make a body fine but my guitar blanks are usually 14"x24" so i still trade out work on a local cabinet maker's tube amp and axe for planning and sanding. don't know what your budget is but you might be able to find a grizzly or similar machine or like egdeltar said, get a sander if you can afford it.

that actually made me laugh out loud..at myself..flux never entered my mind..too simple i guess. thanks, i'll try that in the morning on a scrap of it i cut off.

does anyone have a neat little trick for getting solder to stick to 40+ year old braided shielding/wire? i just did some work on an old harmony arch top and had a real hard time grounding it. i tried lightly sanding it then cleaning with a drop of lacquer thinner on a q-tip and it still didn't want to bond...cussing didn't work any better. i did get it finally so i'm asking for future reference.

thanks for the advice gun but i was merely going to apply a little of it over two three inch splints that i used to repair a couple of cracks. i was trying to match the finish already there and since i couldn't find the tru-oil i used tung oil and it worked fine. by the way, i dated the guitar today..1944..sweet little thing with a really big sound.

thanks eric..i should have stopped the thread earlier but i was curious about replies. i went to the only two places in my little town that might have it and they didn't so i just got some high gloss tung oil and after a couple of coats it blended right in with the existing finish.

i've got a question for those of you that use tru-oil for your finishes. a customer brought me an old martin flat top with a couple of substantial cracks in the lower part of the body that needed repair. they were deep enough that i decided to splint them. during our discussion he told me that he had had the guitar in for a repair a couple of years ago and got really mad when the teck had re-finished the top without talking to him about it. the finish had a pretty good shine to it but not a deep lacquer type shine and more than most oil finishes would have normally given it. anyway, while i was cutting the channels for the splints i noticed that the finished chipped in tiny little chips..very brittle and very thin. it occured to me that it might be tru oil. my only experience with the product was years ago when i re-finished an old double barrell shotgun stock. i've still got it and the sheen looks about the same and i know that i didn't have to build up a thick finish to get it to look like it does. so the question is..does this sound like it could be tru-oil? shellac is the only other thing i can think of but the guitar doesn't have that amber look that i associate with shellac. also, if i feather the existing finish will a new application of tru-oil blend in with the old? thanks john

rob..asking about speaker cabinet specs is kinda like asking about which is the best pickup or tone wood..everyone has an opinion and they're all right in one way or the other..and there are a lot of variables..plywood or solid wood..baffles or no baffles. each effects the sound..the best thing to do is to google "diy speaker cabinets." you'll find a large amount of information available. do some reading and decide which sound you want out of yours. good luck and let us know how it turns out.

easy as can be..just put a cord into the output jack and into your amp and turn it on. listen for any really bad humming which can indicate bad grounding. then set your selector switch to one of the pickups and tap that pickup with a screwdriver or alan wrench. it should make a popping noise when you do. if it does go to the next one and so on. if your switch gives you a combination of two pups at a time tap both of them when in that position. ta da..you're done.

i totally agree with thegarehanman. most standard wood fillers/wood putty have a tendency to be brittle and to shrink. epoxy is a great alternative and i've have good luck fixing dings that aren't too deep with bondo brand auto body filler. it's available in small squeeze tubes and has a pretty good shelf life.

very nice work..i hope that it gives you the confidence to try some more.

it's not just cheap hardware..i've had the same thing on schaller bridges, nearly everything i get from allparts and the tacos i got last night..ok, i made up the part about the tacos..but it really is very common..just clean it with a little naptha or goofoff and it's fine underneath.

i can't tell you what it is but almost every piece of black hardware i order is the same. i've had luck cleaning it off with a soft rag and some naptha or a dremmel tool with a clean buffing pad. my guess is that it's just something invented to irritate us.

thanks for the clarification brian..i did think he was talking about a triangle file. i also mark the frets with a marker and for the same reasons. sounds like we're all on the same page here..make sure the frets are level and then choose your weapon.

thoughtless..some of the guys here do their crowning with a flat file like the three in one you're talking about but i've never tried it. i can only imagine that you'd have to be pretty precise and careful with it. the file that i use already has a radius built into it..they're two sided..one for medium and one for large frets and are extremely easy to use. with a flat file you have to be good enough to make something flat into something round and you have to be able to do it consistently..mabe i'm just lazy but i do like my crowning file. sweedish luthier..when you say that crowning isn't enough and that you'll have to do a "complete" job what do you mean? i'm not arguing, just trying to learn.