unclej

personally i tend to look for wood with "flaws" such a knots and then use them as part of the design. it's hard to tell from the close up pic of the knot but it looks like there's a groove of missing wood there that forms an x. if thats the case you can fill it with any type of epoxy, sand it flush and then tru-old right on top.

follow this link http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/ and you'll find several different types of leaf materials. in the catalog index on the left of the home page click on decorative materials. i've been playing around with their varigated leaf lately on some wood work other than a guitar and it's pretty cool. i've been using these guys for several years now and they have some great products and their service is excellent. i don't own any stock but i know how hard it is sometimes to find reliable mail order stuff.

what AlGeeEater said...50% is what i look for to insure no clouding and that the paint will lay down properly.

let me just add a little bit..the angle of the string when it breaks over the saddle is very important to the tone of a guitar. i just had to cut a new saddle for my takamine acoutstic because i had cut the saddle down a little too far trying to get a great action and it altered the tone. it now sounds a lot like a sitar. the new saddle is probably no more than 1/16" taller than the old one but it changed the tone tremendously and it's now back where it should be. i've only built two electrics with string through design and in both cases i just tried to copy the angle on the other electrics in my shop and it worked. i just checked a les paul that i have here and the strings exit the tailpiece approximately an inch and a half from the saddles. you could probably safely use that as a guideline. if anyone here has the technical knowledge or knows of a link i'd be really interested in any hard data available about this.

thanks gorecki... i found the exact schematic that i needed about an hour ago in a real old repair book and you're exactly right. i appreciate the help. unclej

i'm bolting together a strat clone with some spare parts and came accross a new mighty mite 5 way switch. i can't find any wiring instructions for it anywhere. i've searched their site and did a search here. does anyone have a link handy or a schematic? the contact points run in a straight line accross the bottom instead of half on one side of the switch bottom and half on the other. thanks

thanks for the correction westhemann but i misspelled it on purpose. you might say that i was speaking tung-in-cheek.

another good product for a cheap protective finish is basic minwax tongue oil. don't know if it's available where you are but if not i'm sure there's some brand of tongue oil or even plain linseed oil. most of the guitars i make have a hand rubbed oil finish and i mix up a recipe of what i call LTV. it's equal parts of linseed oil, turpentine and varnish. mix together thoroughly then flood the entire guitar with a brush or pad. let sit ten-fifteen minutes and wipe dry. after an hour or so you can apply a second coat and then maybe a third the first day. now let it cure over night. on the second day your subsequent coats should be adding a shine to the guitar. with enough coats and some hand polishing you can get a pretty glossy finish while still being able to feel the grain of the wood. generally after 6-7 coats i'll let the guitar cure for a few days then polish with a good quality floor paste wax. i'm not exactly sure how much ten pounds is but these things aren't expensive in small quanities. (how much is ten pounds now anyway?) hope that helps

well, this is a relatively inexpensive gb instuments meter with two probes. when you touch them together you get a digital reading of 0.00. when they're not touching anything the screen is blank. when i tested the pickup in question the screen remained blank.

thanks fan but i tested two or three others and the meter was functioning properley. besides, i think i like capacitive coupling better.

well whoda thunkit? thanks for the info. that is pretty neat although capacitive coupling sounds kinda kinky for around here. i knew i started hanging around for a reason..just might learn something. thanks again.

i've just been going through my used pickup drawer in search of a couple of useable single coils for a project. i generally make sure that they work before i store them. one of the pickups didn't show anything on the ohm meter so i hooked it up to a modified cord that i have with a couple of aligator clips and a 1/4" jack to go to an amp. tapping the pickup with a screwdriver produced the popping that shows that it's functional... i tested a couple more and got readings on the meter so i know it's not that... how is it possible for a pickup to work and not show any resistance? by the way, i tested at the lead ends and at the solder joint on the pickups to make sure that the wires were'nt faulty...same results.

it sounds like they may have wired the middle pup out of phase with the other two. if that's the problem it relatively easy to fix. if you're not set up for repairs it shouldn't cost much at your local shop. if it's not out of phase then you may have a bad pup.

hmmnn...do the math or let you guys do it..man, that's a tough one. i finally got all of the parts in for the project that led to this thread including the 300k pots so when i get it put together i'll let you know how it sounds.

here's a link for all your leafing needs. i've dealt with this company for many years and they're great for a lot of woodworking needs. i tried some of their varigated color leaf and it was pretty cool. http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/

i can't explain it but in most cases it balances out..drops the highs and boosts the lows and the mids stay about right...not always but most of the time. if the guitar doesn't have on board volume and tone controls it's easier to just buy a little equalizer. i use a danelectro fish & chips and it works great on under saddle pickups and sound board transducers.

i get at least 2 guitars a month in my shop with this problem. you didn't mention whether or not it was an under saddle type or not but if it is you can quite often solve the problem by pulling the saddle and gently pulling the transducer back into the guitar. drill a hole on the opposite side of the saddle channel and push the transducer back into the saddle chanel running the opposite direction from where it was originally.

i use schaller or abm top loading, roller type bridges almost exclusively and with them you lay out your scale lenght to the middle of the saddle travel length so you can intone. on the schaller there's a locking screw on the right side and i use that to mark the scale length.

for my two cents i'm gonna say you'd be really unhappy with the results of using a router bit in a drill...in fact, i'd give five bucks to watch that. but seriously not only would you mess up your project that way but probably hurt yourself trying. i've been using a $40.00 b&d for a couple of years now and that was after i used it for two seasons in my deck building business. they're light weight and easy to control. the secret to doing a good job with a lighter router is to make two or three cuts. don't try to go full depth on your first try. you'll burn up your bits and router faster.

well i'm not going to be much help i'm afraid. i couldn't find anything on the actual specs. you might try the official fender site and see if they can help. sorry.

john, i'll do some research and see if i can find the neck specs for you. as to spraying the fret board i don't know for sure but i'd almost bet that in the factory it's done before the frets are applied. back in a bit..

cool...so you just cut into one of the leads on the jack?

my partner here at the store also builds guitars and just bought an emg. i'm not familiar with them so i'm going to let him go first. what would the purpose of a kill switch be? thanks both of you.

how 'bout some ideas here. the guy that i'm building my current guitar for has changed his mind about the pickups. we were going to go with a humbucker/single coil/humbucker configuration and he's taken out the single coil. the good news is that i hadn't routed for the single coil yet. the need for creativity comes from the fact that i have already drilled the front of the body for three mini-toggle switches. one for each pickup. i'm using a rear control panel and no pick guard. so what i'm left with is two humbuckers and three switch holes. my first thought is to use the first on/off/on for a neck coil tap and the second on/off/on for a bridge parallel/series switch. i'm thinking of using the third spot for an on/on/on used as a varitone switch. put three different capacitors on it. maybe a .005, a .01 and ansil's 1 mfd. anybody got any ideas about a different setup that's not too difficult to operate and would give it a unique sound?

thanks saber, i might very well take your suggestion and give it a try.