unclej

on probably 80% of my builds i have used a homemade oil finish..equal parts linseed oil, turpentine and varnish. on the others i've used rattlecan satin poly.

one other thing to try before buying a new switch is to take a small piece of 600-700 grit sandpaper and put it between the contact points on the blades. draw it out slowly with a little pressure on the blade..do this a couple of times and it will clean any corrosion that may have built up. if that and the contact cleaner don't help then it's probably trashed.

i know that it's hard to be patient when you're all stoked to get going but you'd be better off waiting for that part of the process until you actually receive the switch. you'll want it in hand to mark the holes for the mounting screws and not knowing what kind of switch you've ordered it's impossible to tell you how long the slot should be or how much wood you need to remove in order for the shaft to protrude the proper length. good luck with your project.

first off..welcome to the board..second, i'm afraid you're going to have to be a little more specific than that. what kind of help are you looking for exactly?

this kind of question really gets my curiosity up. the first thing i thought of is what i call the sitar effect. it's more common in acoustic guitars where the saddle has been sanded down too short and the breakover angle of the string is too shallow. it could also be caused by an enlarged saddle slot or nut slot so i'm wondering how old the guitar is. could you tell us what kind of guitar you're talking about, what kind of bridge you're using, etc.? also what size strings are you using and have you tried replacing the high e with another string or possibly replacing it with one size larger string? a lot of the time problems like this are solved by a process of elimination.

frank..if i might make a suggestion or two. the nut making kit looks fine but you don't need everything in the fretting kit. you can buy the "fret cutter" in your local hardware store for much less. just look in the hand tool section. look into radiusing blocks for leveling your frets instead of the files. they're about half the price and used with some 400 to 600 grit sandpaper do a great job. the double edge fret file is a must..i use the small/ medium size. it works fine on jumbo frets but the one they list won't work too well on the smaller fret wire. i bought a fret dressing stick five years ago when i first got into repairs and have never used it. up to you though. and lastly the fret rocker is an expense that you don't need. find a couple of lengths of aluminum. one should cover three frets on the headstock end of the neck and one shorter for the other end. put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and sand an edge flat on each of the two pieces of aluminum and instant fret rocker. good luck..fret work is a bit tedious but to me very enjoyable and nothing makes your axe play better than level, crowned and polished frets...well, other than more skill than i personally have.

not to start an argument but i'm not sure poplar is dense enough to stand up to the wear. not the strain of the string tension but the actuall physical wear of making chords. one of the reasons maple, ebony and rose wood are the standards is that they are very hard and last under that kind of use. someone may disagree with me but i'm not sure poplar's that tough. would be kinda cool looking though. i've seen some nice color differences in poplar.

An Aussie that doesn’t know everything about and around BBQs? Sorry, couldn’t resist that one. I have a friend that moved to Australia and he told me that you were the world champions when it came to barbeques. Found a link:http://www.wosab.se/Irene-sv.htm i certainly don't want to cause any problems between you and your friend but he's wrong...everyone knows that barbeque was invented in texas and that we are the undisputed world champs. by the way GREGMW..if you're still following this thread i apologize for not supplying the pictures that i promised but a better retail space came available and i've been moving my guitar shop for the last 3-3 1/2 weeks and haven't even set foot in my shop for a while.

that's exactly what i was gonna say..i just didn't want to be a show off.

welcome to the forum..and yes, the type of wood, or more specifically the density of the wood does effect the tone of a guitar. how and how much is a subject that has been talked about quite a bit here. if you'll use the search function you'll probably find more info than you wanted.

once you've cleaned it rub some mineral oil into the wood and it'll really make it pop.

Thanks by the tip Al. I've measured the neck pocket and got about 18mm, and it seems that have a little angle to the front. why don't you try a shim or two in the neck pocket at the heel end before you do anything drastic. you don't say how high the action is but shims could be the answer. i use thin strips of aluminum cut from a coke can. it cuts easily with scissors and the shims don't compress when the screws are tightened. good luck

when i shoot a guitar i like the flat way. i install a 2" screw into the end where the strap button will go leaving about an inch and a half protruding. i then install a two foot 1"x2" board into the neck pocket. holding onto the stick and laying the screw end on a table in my shop i can rotate it and shoot top, bottom and sides by simply turning it with the board using the screw as the pivot point. everyone has their favorite ways to do things this one just works for me.

shoot..y'all don't know rough. i get most of my wood from a friend who slabs out downed trees around here with a portable sawmill..not the band saw type..the chain saw type. now that's rough. but we're texans and we like things rough.

that's a great find...looks like they have some very nice wood. i just recently found a great supplier on ebay myself. i've purchased three different items from them..not for guitars but for my other wood art and i've never had faster delivery or better service. since i wasn't looking for guitar wood i really don't know if they sell wood appropriate for that use but they're worth a look. http://stores.ebay.com/chits-exotic-hardwo...DME:B:FSEL:US:3 thanks for the heads up.

any time you get a buzzing when you touch a string or a pickup or the mounting screws you've got a grounding problem. you say that there's a problem with the bridge ground..fix that first and see if it fixes the other problem. if not check all your ground wires and their solder points. if you have to unsolder and then re-solder them. could be a cold solder joint. good luck/

good call on skipping the background.. good looking tat.

ditto this..a steel rule or a small straight piece of wood with some sandpaper wraped around it will level it out. good luck

yep..if you use a different sale length or if the neck pocket is different then you have to move the bridge. but it's really not a big deal. just route your neck pocket and then measure 25 1/2" from the fret side of the nut and that's the scale length. you may be surprised and find that where you have it marked will work. good luck with your project.

Thanks unclej. The hole is the same size as a single coil. Should I try and get a single coil rail pickup or a humbucker? What is strange is that the pots that were in the mandolin when I got it were 500k, so I assume it was intended for use with a humbucker? Does anyone know what is usually used in a mandolin? Thanks for the idea Mattia. i'd guess that if there were 500k pots then there was a stacked humbucker installed at one time. if you have room you might think about installing another one and a mini toggle switch for a coil tap. might be pretty cool in a mando.

if you have access to minwax products try a can of their wood hardener. it's a water thin epoxy and much cheaper than the amount of super glue that you'd need to do an entire guitar face. you just basically pour it on or brush it on. it will soak into the soft spots and will need several applications in the softer ones. it's sorta time consuming because you need some time between coats and then you need to give it 24-48 hours to totally harden. you also need lots and lots of sanpaper because it loads up pretty quickly but does a very nice job. good luck

like setch i'll route the neck pocket first. but before that i'll draw a center line on the body blank and then lay the neck on top of it where it will lay when finished. i place a small block of wood the same thickness as the body under the neck close to the headstock so that the neck heel lays flat on the body. then i use a small lazer level placed at the bottom end of the body and make sure the lazer line runs down the middle of each fret dot. once i know the neck is in perfect alignment with the center line i'll trace around the heel of the neck and that's where my pocket will go. after the neck pocket is routed and the neck in place in it i then check with the level again and if there's any slight variance i'll re-draw the center line. from there it's pretty simple to lay out the pup pockets (sounds like a breakfast food ) and the bridge.

if the pickup hole is the size of an actual guitar single coil and you want to use the existing pick guard you might think of one of the many rail type pickups available. that way you don't have to worry about pole placement. a lace sensor might work as well.

joe..once again you've probably nailed it..it did have an old two prong plug and i had just replaced it when i discovered the power switch problem but i hadn't attached the ground wire at the point that it shocked me. if i was real brave i'd try it again now that it's properly grounded..naaah...ain't gonna happen. and no..no damp concrete. thanks

you're right about needing a speaker load but i only had it hooked up wrong for a few seconds and it didn't damage anything. once i changed the cords it worked perfectly. the problem had been a faulty main power switch. so if i'm right about the amp working properly now, and it certainly seems to be, i still don't know why there would be voltage to the input jack. i've used this particular jumper on many amps and haven't been shocked before so i'm wondering if there's an underlying problem that i need to find or if it's normal. thanks for your input.