Sparky

Easy maiden, I meant no disrespect in my post. I simply disagreed with your assesment that forged or machined parts are "better" than casts parts. It's all relative. I am not sure why you are under the impression that a machined part will be stronger than a cast part all else equal. If you used the exact same materials and a decent casting process you can get them to be about the same given the same geometry. As I already pointed out, casting has limitations in the type of material, so you may be comparing machined parts that are made from stronger materials in the first place. E.g. your forged tremolo is steel and you can't use steel in die casting, so you are comparing a steel part to an aluminum part with roughly 1/3 the tensile strength of steel and even worse when it comes to wear and fatigue. I agree that forged parts are stronger. As I already stated, forged parts are much stronger than cast because the microstructure of the metal is altered. This is why rolled screws are stronger or "better" than machined screws. In my last paragraph I guess I should have specified for "non-trem" bridges, I dont see much benefit to a forged part over a cast part for a simple non-trem bridge. So I can see your frustration when I generalized to all bridges. If I were designing a trem, I would be using a good steel - so die casting is out the door.

how so? ← Not true. As usual, it all depends on what "better" means. Does it mean a stronger part? Does it mean a cheaper part? Does it mean a more dimensionally accurate part? Die-casting is a specific form of casting. It uses high pressure to litterally inject the molten metal into a mold. Without going into great detail, it costs a great deal of money to set up initially, but it can make parts very quickly (easily several parts per minute) and efficiently. There are limits as to what kind of material (you can only die cast the lighter metals, such as aluminum and magnesium) and how large a part can be. The surface finish is very good and you can get pretty good dimensional accuracy. This means you wont have to do any machining to the part afterward before you sell it, so it costs less to make. If I recall, matchbox cars are die-cast. Small, good surface and tolerances, and cheap. Forging invloves taking a hot part (in this case, "hot" means the part is above 0.5*melting temperature, not hot to the touch) and uses forms to pound/hammer/press the part into shape at incredibly high pressure. Think of your old-timer blacksmith hitting a hot piece of metal with a hammer. But now think of him being 1000 times stronger and with a hammer in the shape of the part he wants. If you do the forging right, you can orient the grains in the metal in the direction of the most stress the part will endure. This means you will have a much stronger part than a machined part of the same shape (the machined part will have randomly oriented grain structure). There are many types of forging, just like casting, but that is the extreme basics. Machining is your basic metal cutting...somehow, metal is removed from a part to get the right shape. You can get the best tolerances and very good surface finish from machining...but it costs a ton if you are doing a large run of parts and as said before, will not give you added strength or toughness. You can always heat treat the material afterwards to gain more toughness and strength, but that costs a lot to do as well. The process described above is a type of casting called "lost wax casting" GM has recently begun using a similar process to use die casting on entire engine blocks...this is crazy because in the past, it was very hard to get a part that large and complex made through die casting (there are issues with entrapped air in the die and portions of the melt solidifying before the entire part is cast)...they use a foam that is melted out instead of wax...fun stuff. Casting is fun...I made an ash tray (dont even smoke) using a sand casting technique. As for a guitar bridge, in general, a machined bridge will cost more and *could* be more dimensionally accurate. But a die cast part is probably just as good assuming the same material/design...and it will be cheaper to make. I can see no distinct advantages in one proccess that can't be achieved in the other as far as a guitar bridge is concerned. The aluminum bridges are die cast, certain steel parts on a trem bridge will probably be forged and/or heat treated.

Anyone that tells you using a CNC doesn't make it home made is jealous and/or has never used one. In fact, why use any tools at all...you should be able to knaw on a chunk of wood for a few years until you get the right shape you want.... I think you should do as much CNC stuff as possible. If you can do the neck pocket on the CNC, do it. No sense not using a tool just because it makes things easier.

As for materials, I know UHMWPe (ultra high molecular weight polyethelene) has amazing wear characteristics and is fairly hard. It also has a very low coefficient of friction, especially when metals is sliding on it, so it would feel fairly slippery, ...not sure if that would be a good thing. I would look into some polymers used for bearings (such as UHMWPe) since they have great wear characteristics and low coefficients of friction. Of course, im not sure how easy it would be to adhere the fretboard to the neck if this material was used. Another thing to look into is coatings...there are many metal (and even polymer based) coatings that will greatly increase wear resistance on a part. All in all, it seems like a really hard thing to make in such low numbers...Die casting seems like the best option for this if you wanted to use a metal, but the initial costs are huge. This seems fairly difficult to machine on a mill...it really looks like casting would be the best way to create it. You basically need a material that has a higher hardness rating than your guitar strings. Molding one entire piece seems very difficult...what about some metal inserts, say a 1/4" wide with a cheaper material inbetween? Maybe anodized aluminum or Ti-nitride coated steel inserts...sounds fun to make as long as it isn't my money being spent.

That's about the best you can do...clamp it down so your guitar doesn't start moving around while your drilling...other than that, measure twice, cut once.

Hey guys, Thinking of using a carvin bolt-on neck for my next guitar and they aren't exactly forthcoming on much info for this thing. They give you the nut width, width at the 22nd fret and tell you it's standard strat pocket dimensions... Anybody know off the top of their head what kind of radius the fretboard has? Is it just a 10" or is it a compound radius? What about string spacing at the nut? Thanks

Holy crap...how have I never thought of this before?

Im glad Im not the only one that thought that...I just wondered, "Who in the hell wants to have their company name look so close to "KKK"?!"

Looks like a knock-off of the guitar Prince used to use (or does he still use it?). Had this huge spiral horn on the top...looked absurd, especially since Prince is so small and...unique looking.

The key in all of these studies is that there is no clear answer to how perfect pitch is developed. Nobody has proven it is genetic, behavioral, etc. Each study offers evidence that SUGGESTS a genetic or behavioral and/or environmental link but doesn't come close to proving or disproving anything. Obviously more study is needed. However, try to get a psychologist who is interested, and then try to get them funding and then...well, you get the idea. So, I would say there really is a bit of mystery to it, it does exist, and not everyone can do it let alone learn how. FYI - I recall reading an article a few weeks ago about a woman who detects distinct TASTES (i.e. sour, sweet, hot) in her mouth in response to different musical intervals. Pretty crazy.

Well, wood filler is probably way too soft for this application. I really doubt it would last. You have the right idea though. A nice epoxy could work well. If it were me, I woulb probably use an epoxy or polyester resin (look for fiberglass supplys or boat building stores) and then add a pigment dye. It should cure very hard and should be fairly easy to sand down. There's always mother of pearl and abolone inlay materials. Though that would be a bit more expensive and quite a bit more work.

I'll bite, what's the deal? In your last post, you state explicitly that perfect pitch does not exist now you claim that you took a class and learned how to do it in 7 hours of practice? Good one.

zero frets dont compensate intonation! and corrective nuts are a waste of time and money, unless you have perfect pitch, or are **** retentive, then GO AHEAD! ← Huh? perfect pitch? That doesn't exist. I can easily tell when i press an F# that it's sharp, it doesn't take anything but a musicians to detect it - that's why it needs to be corrected. ← Perfect pitch exists. But it is rare. Most people (i.e. those without perfect pitch, like me) need to compare the tone we hear to another tone. I could tell you if that F# was indeed an F# if I heard an F right before or after it. Those with perfect pitch do not need to do this. They hear the same way we see. They can directly identify a tone without any other tone to compare it to. We do this with colors all the time. I dont need a red crayon next to me to be able to tell that I am holding an orange crayon. It can be quite a talent to have. If you are saying any musician can do this, you are very wrong. If you are saying that by comparing two tones we can tell if that F is sharp, you are right. But as everyone else said, a guitar that is out of tune by a few cents isnt going to make a huge difference. Most people would be surprised how poor they're hearing is when they take a true ABX test....

I know there was a website out there that showed how to make one, but just as an FYI... Im going to make a neck jig like the one stew-mac sells. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...52.html#details It looks to have no more than 50-60 Dollars worth of parts, but stew-mac will sell it to you for a mere $355. Not bad for a 2x4 and a sheet of plywood with some holes in it.... Anyway, harborfreight has machinist dials for 6 bucks each (granted, they aren't great, but for a neck jig the .0001" accuracy isn't really needed), and some ratcheting tie downs for 4 dollars each. Mcmaster-carr supply has swivel head levelers for about 4-5 bucks. Grab some T-nuts (a few bucks for a pack of 50), some standard bolts, a scrap piece of plywood and a 2x4 and you're there. Shouldn't cost much more than 50 bucks. It would probably cost around 75 if you went and purchased the thumb-screws and made it exactly like theirs...

Thanks for the comments guys. I'll try to answer a few questions and give more info on the design.... Scale length is 24 9/16. Makes it a bit frustrating when learning because my acoustic uses a much larger scale length. But I do like it being shorter. Fretborad is a 12" radius (though my radius sanding block said otherwise...found that out during the FIRST fret job). Schaller roller bridge works great. Didn't really use it to adjust the string spacing (thought I might need to). Good deal for 30 bucks or so. I originally had one of those tone-pros bridges. Got it and took one look and wanted to shove it up their collective ass. Sixty bucks for THAT?! The no-name ones are The body is about 2" thick in the center. I wanted a smaller, thinner guitar. I think I nailed it. Weighs in at just under 8 pounds. Is that really light? Fretting - easily the part of the build I despised the most. Pain in the ass AND it can single-handedly ruin the guitar. Wonderful. I had a ton of bad frets the first time. Turns out I was bending the frets to the profile of my 12" sanding block...not the same radius as the fretboard contrary to what those stooges at stew-mac say. So I tore them all out and did it again. One or two of them took some large chunks of the ebony out...needless to say I was very pissed at this point. There are still some edges that catch your finger if you run your hand down the side of the neck. Did a lot of fret levelling on those things. There was a time where I thought I would have to do it a third time because the frets were getting so low. I think I would prefer them a bit higher just so I can get a better feel for where they are at. As for the ebony...also a pain in the ass. I thought I was going to get black lung from that dust when sanding it...not to mention it sticks to EVERYTHING. String ferrules - couldn't agree more, I always thought they were too big, but those were the only chrome ones I could find at the time that weren't a flush mount. I would like them much smaller and closer together. One of them is a bit high compared to the others...chalk that up to some carelessness on the drill press. Neck - The neck is a custom DIY, of course. Glued on. The whole neck joint I made was just a case of what not to do. If there was anything I was most displeased with it was the neck joint. Spent forever trying to get the pocket the right size...first it was too tight, started filing...then got impatient and whipped out the dremel and all of a sudden it was too big! Got a shim on one side, though you would never know if you looked at it since the paint covers it. My blank was a bit shorter than I had anticipated and for whatever reason I still forged ahead. THAT is why the headstock is short. I wanted it a good inch or two longer, but I litterally ran out of wood. The joint for the headstock and neck is a little odd too due to a rather unfortuante cut in the early construction...instead of the neck being flat and the headstock cut at an angle and glued on, the neck is cut at an angle and the headstok is glued on top of it...This produces a definte curved glue joint line at the top of the neck. Just looks a bit odd at first. Finish - Like I siad, still need some work on the spray gun. There is some orange peel look on the back. It was one of those things were you can either sand forever until it's perfect or just get it done. I honestly just wanted the damn thing finished at that point and didn't really care that much...there is also a small blemish on the front where some dust or something got on the clear while it was being applied. Looks like some dust but just wont come off. If you look close you can see where I sanded through to the color when sanding the clear. Top horn has a strange birthmark right on the tip. Normally I would have been rather peeved, but this was towards the "I just want it done" stage so it didn't really bother me. I gave up on the grain filler...talk about an excersize in futility there. I guess it would have taken about 30 rounds of cotaing and sanding to fill that grain. So I just went with some really nice bondo (evercoat glazing putty for those that care). Took 3 applications to smooth everything out. Unfortunatley the stuff is white, not clear so I had to go with an opaque finish on the back. I was originally planning for a black dye so you could see the nice grain of the ash...oh the irony. I originally tried the little triangle paint design (for lack of a better word) on the neck with some dye. That didn't work too well since the maple ate the stuff up and it wicked right up the grain...looked aweful. Soooo, once again the black pigment to the rescue. I was a bit concerned it would feel strange on your hand when you played, but it sanded down nicley and although it is noticeable, it doesn't really bother me. Pickups are a carvin M22N and M22SD...I am very pleased with the sound. Although I must admit, I am rather ignorant when it comes to guitar sounds (but making progress) Binding - What a pain in the ass! Especially with the ash back...routed out the channel and watched a chunk of wood fly out...luckily I grabbed it quickly and was able to glue it back in. Oh, they aren't joking when they say the stuff is highly flammable...mwahahaha. The wood is just a flame maple I purchased. Wanted a different piece, but it sold before I could get the funding...oh well, the stuff looks very nice. It was strange, the grain stayed in the top even after the carve...except for the headstock. I ended up planing down the top (big mistake) to get it thinner and watched in horror as the flame dissapeared. Still, there's a bit on one side, but the other has almost nothing. The maple is only 1/4" thick...made for a shallower carve. I knew it was going to be thin from the beginning, but I really could have used an extra 1/8" or so. Next time I think I will do a bigger carve. Wiring - Standard LP wiring, dual concentric pots with volume and tone for each pickup. I will add a phase and switch and maybe a coil tap later. Although expensive, I wanted the dual pots just to keep the top looking clean...never liked the idea of having four knobs on the front. Headstock - Hehe, funny I never thought it was big until now. Like I said before, I would have prefered another inch in length, but the neck blank came up short. One concern I have is that the headstock angle is around 17 degrees (this was litterally the shallowest it could get)...im waiting to smack it on the side of a door and watch the whole thing snap in half. I agree on the tuner placement...first off I want the distances all to be equal. Why I thought not having them equal was a good idea I may never know. I originally had normal tuners on it...it looked rediculous. Not even sure if you could turn one without hitting another. Good thing they make mini tuners. I too dislike the fact that the strings bend out so far...just looks a bit odd. As for the shape...I love it, so TS! I love the color..I too am a sucker for blue. I originally wanted a very bright blue (almost cyan) but then found that the stuff was oil based and wans't sure how my clear coat would behave with it. Turned out looking good though. Anyone know where I can get some chrome trim rings for those carvin pickups? Those dorks have four screws on one side, so it looks like the generic trim rings wont work. The thing balances very when you stand...now I just gotta get used to playing while standing up...whew guess that's it.

First off, I would like to thank everyone here. Didn't post much, but got a lot of info that helped me dive in head first into the deep end of guitar building.... Sure, there's a few things that I would do differently, but that's part of the learning process. A few pictures: http://students.washington.edu/naf/photo/guitar/ Details: Run of the mill 5/8" flame maple top (blue/black dye). Swamp ash back. The shape is partially derived from a PRS McCarty (love the look of those!). Plays very well...although I don't have much experience so I can't really compare...lets just say it works for me. Things I would do differently: The neck joint. It came out looking fine, but I really didn't think enough before I just started cutting...made for a fun time of fixing mistakes. I would use a thicker maple top, and probably would go with something other than ash for the back...just proved to be a little to fussy when routing out the channel for the white trim. The fretting could use some work...but find me someone that did it right the first time and I'll kiss them. I could aslo use a bit more practice with the spray gun...oh well. Other than some small little things, it came out great. I am already dreaming of building my second one. Now I gotta find (or make) some chrome trim rings for those pickups....

Yeah, be careful...if it is cyanoacrillate it can catch fire pretty easy...it might want to tear some of the wood out...sounds dangerous.

I think I understand what you mean...really, a 1/16" is very small, sanding it back at an angle should work fine.

Yup, very very soft when pure. It just isn't fit for any high stress job. That is why there is brass (copper and zinc mixture)...The zinc atoms alter the crystal microstructure creating stress tensors that in effect make the metal much harder and stronger - sorry, materials science is all coming back to me in a big wave. Fun stuff. Copper is very tough to machine because it is so soft. It can be hard to get a clean cut. Then again, if you are after the look of copper, there isn't much you can do.

This one goes for more than just making guitars: If you EVER start to think you are tired, getting frustrated, dont feel good, feel angry, and/or aren't PERFECTLY sure what you should do next: stop. 9 times out of 10 when I make a mistake it's because I got lazy due to being tired or frustrated and it only results in bigger problems...as dumb as it sounds, every 10-15 mintues just ask yourself if you are feeling good and know what you are doing and why, if not stop what you are doing and take a few hours to think about what you should do next. I now have to put some wood shims in my neck because I decided hand sanding was just too slow...great idea. Also, wear eye protection!

Might wanna try emachineshop.com...they just started out, read about them on CNN. They claim around a 1 month turnaround. Not bad at all for a custom order part. Might be worth a shot, who knows.

Yeah, as long as you aren't using balsa wood for your body I wouldn't really worry about it...just go with what looks best.

digikey.com will have just about any new IC you need. Keep in mind that just because the IC has been discontinued doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There is almost certinaly a chip just like it (but with better specs and/or cheaper/ smaller size, etc.) that replaced it. Any reason you want/need the actual old chip?

Drak is right on. I have used acrylic many times (not for a guitar). Honestly, I don't really see the wow factor in an acrylic guitar...sure its clear, but your controls and pickups and everything else wont be... Anyway, you will want special bits to work with and you will need to polish forever to get some of the edges crystal clear (otherwise they will be a dull white). Luckily, you can fix screw ups a bit better than wood, but of course they will look terrible which pretty much makes that a moot point. Not to mention the stuff has a very low melting temp, is really heavy, and is not very strong. Last I recall, a 4x8 foot sheet of 1" thick was around 350-450 dollars...the price gets exponential the thicker you go.