unclej

one of the easiest ways to do what you want is to forget about the tone pot. solder one end of your two diodes to either the pos or neg prong on the output jack...let's say the pos. run a jumper from the other end of your diodes to one pole on your switch. run a jumper from the other pole of the switch to the neg side of your ouput jack and you're done.

thanks setch..i didn't think of epoxy. and yes, i think with a little reamer i can enlarge the access hole and not make as much of a mess as a drill bit possibly could. i appreciate the help.

for those of you that might not speak texan waller'd out means that the socket for the allen wrench on the truss rod nut has been almost completely rounded off. a student brought in his american made strat last night for a simple set up and the neck really does need some adjusting but after having tried all 237 of my allen wrenches i give up. i've got one wrench that will bite just enough that i could probably loosen the nut but it's one of those guitars with the really small hole in the headstock and i'm not sure that the nut is meant to be removed. any of you old hands (or young ones for that matter) got a trick up your sleeve on this one? i could probably get a small burr on a dremmel in there and cut a little slot across the top and use a screwdriver but it would ruin the burr and i thought i'd wait to see what response you have. thanks

i have to agree with mattia here..i'm afraid that if you used olive oil very often it would become rancid. i've said it before here many times..a bottle of plain old mineral oil is inexpensive and will last forever. it's approved by the fda as a salad bowl finish and i've been using the same bottle here in my shop for close to two years and i treat a lot of fretboards.

why not try a couple of local pawn shops. you can usually find a decent deal on used routers, sanders, etc. if you consider that you'll usually find used tools at about half of the price of a new one you should be right in your budget range. if you find one have them let you plug it in and turn it on. if it sounds good..no popping or rattling sounds..it's probably good.

everyone is giving you good advice and i wish i could recommend something specific but i'm guessing that you're not in the states and i don't know what's available where you are. i have a jet 14" bandsaw with the cabinet base and have been extremely pleased with it. john says he has that saw and likes it so if that's what you can afford go for it. i guess that was my big problem with the two smaller ones that i had..a delta bench top and a craftsman benchtop..they just didn't have the strength to go as fast as i wanted them to.

the router looks fine..i actually have several ranging from a 3hp makita to a $40 black and decker and each has it's uses. i would definitely recommend against getting a bench top band saw for guitar building unless that's absolutely all you can afford. they don't have the blade guiding properties of bigger, more expensive saws and they definitely don't have the power that you need for larger projects. i have two in my storeroom that i've retired for just those reasons. i don't know what the used tool market is where you live but look around a little and you may find a descent saw used for the same price. good luck!

assuming that your headstock is still unfinished wood get some gold craft paint at your local hobby store. with a fine brush paint you engraving being careful but not worrying too much about complete accuracy. after the paint has dried completely take some 400 grit paper and wrap it around a small flat block of wood and sand over the engraving. anything outside of your lettering..on the surface of the headstock..will go away leaving your engraving gold..or whatever color you choose.

if you've got a compressor you should be able to just blow it out of the grain..

do you know for a fact that the sperzels need smaller holes than what's already there? if you don't just wait til they arrive...could slip right in or you may nead to ream the existing holes to a larger size.

you've got it..and you're welcome

if the larger drill is still in your budget and still light enough to move around then i'd go with it. the smaller one will probably do everything you need to do but there are times when a drill press has to work pretty hard. the larger motor will most likely last longer and not be as subject to maintenance problems caused by overworking it ocassionally. (hope that made snese..i'm still on my first cup of coffee.)

if laney pots are similar to others you won't do any good by spraying from the outside. if any cleaner at all made it inside the pot i doubt that it would be enough to do any good so you'll probably have to go inside of the amp. most pots have a small hole on the edge and you spray your cleaner there. i use radio shack electronic cleaner but there are several brands on the market.

i build basically two types of guitars..upper end and mid-priced. for upper end stuff i buy my necks from usa custom guitar parts. i can get nearly any combination of neck profile, radius and headstock shape. for a mid-priced project i buy from allparts in houston. not as many choices and the fret ends usually need a little touchup but all in all a good neck for the price. i make my own bodies so i can't really help there but i do know that allparts has a pretty wide variety available.

i'm not personally familiar with those tuners but i'd imagine that they correspond to string position..if i'm correct there will be a slight difference in the post height between 1, 2 and 3 and 4, 5 and 6 will have the same difference..in other words 1 will be the same height as 6, 2 as 5 and 3 as 4. you might check their webbsite to confirm and let us know how you like them. edited to say..oops..i just re-read your post and those numbers don't make any sense to me so ignore what i just said. it's bound to have something to do with post height but i'd definitely check out their webbsite before i installed them..

thanks to both of you..i'll check them out.

seems like i might have asked this once before but i couldn't find the thread..i took in five amps last week..each needing something a little different so what i ended up with was a pretty diverse shopping list..two different sets of matched output tubes, two plastic fender type jacks with different pin configurations, one triple triode tube, one can cap and several different resistors that i didn't have in inventory. i ended up having to place four orders with seperate online stores. i know that no one co. is going to have everything i needed but who, in your opinion, seems to have the most complete inventory of amp supplies?

that's an interesting project..i don't know why it wouldn't work..piezos work on vibrations and the glass itself should provide that..the challenge would probably be getting everything into some sort of balance as it reaches the amp.

you might pm mushytheshroom. he built one a couple of months ago. i've got one in the planning stages and just plan on using a high output humbucker...probably dimarzio's super distortion.

probably not but i don't finish the front of the neck just the headstock, back and side of the fretboard. that's why i use a rag instead of a brush..control. on the fretboard itself i use plain old mineral oil.. but if you want to finish the front i doubt that there's enough of anything in the mixture to attack the fret dots..like anything else having to do with finish it's best to try a small area first and see what happens. take a q-tip and dab a little on one of the fret dots and wait a couple of minutes to wipe it off..if it doesn't disappear or blow up or start smokin' you're probably going to be all right.

thanks..i'd describe it as a slight hill starting at the joint, going up a bit and then back down toward the end of the fretboard. there isn't any apparant crack in the joint where the heel meets the guitar so i didn't even think about the dove tail. i'll definitely check out the Ford site and again, thanks for the info.

thanks..it's crushed black stone powder and superglue.

how do you apply this ?? spray gun of with a rag ?! what kind of varnish is compatible with this ? ← when i'm finishing the body i use a cheap bristle brush and flood the entire thing, let it soak in for a few minutes then wipe and let cure. on the neck i generally use an old t-shirt so that i can control it better. just wipe it on, let it soak in for 10 minutes or so and then wipe off the excess. let it cure a few hours after the first coat then apply and wipe again. then let the second coat and all subsequent coats dry over night. add coats until it looks and feels like you want it to. as for what kind of varnish..just your basic garden variety varnish. you can substiture polyeurathane if you like. i use boiled linseed oil and regular turpentine. you can use paint thinner if you like instead of turpentine but i like it because when you can't smell it any more your work is totally cured. good luck.

thanks russ..that makes sense..and i appreciate the offer but this was for a customer and he's fine with the split cord and all so it's really not an issue..like i said, i was just wondering why. and thanks for your thoughts nitefly.

well, that probably sounded kinda weird but i am curious about something. i've had two guitars just this week in that had a noticeable hump in the area of the fretboard from the neck joint to the end of the board. in both cases, as in others that i've worked on in the past, there was extreme buzzing when the rest of the neck was set at the proper relief and the saddle at the proper height to allow easy fretting. my question isn't how to fix it but what causes it? i see it more often in cheap guitars but have also seen it on some mid-priced and upper end guitars. so i'm wondering if it's a humidity thing or a manufacturing defect. anyone have any specific knowledge of the problem?