Uncle Os

Thank you so much, Kind Fellow. :o)

Elbow cut... Forearm contour, Senor. :o)

Hey All! Can any of y'all point me in the right direction? I'm having a heakuva time getting a clean binding channel on the lowest portion of an elbow cut. All of the flat/straight stuff has a nice, clean, professional binding channel. However... That last corner on the elbow cut is tough. I've tried mounting my laminate trimmer on drawer slides... The stewmac dremel binding guide and, of course, by hand. Thus far everything I've tried isn't up to snuff. Any guidance and or assistance tremendously appreciated. Uncle Os

Thanks Fellas! I'm on it like white on rice! :o) Yeah... It's my fault. The lumber came from the beach area when I got it home, I set about makin' the bodies. They are cut and routed but not sanded. I will most likely toss the one that's got that deep crack. Thanks again. :o)

Hey Guys! Welp... I blew it. I bought and processed more wood than I needed. I was reorganizing the shop when I noticed some gnarly cracks on the end grain. What would you all suggest to halt or at least slow down the drying process? These bodies are far too beautiful to go to waste. They are all one piece/super light and resonant alder, swamp ash and pine. A couple of the cracks go front to back and go about 1" into the body. I was going to start wicking CA in to those cracks and then coat them with something. But I don't know what to use that will allow me to finish them later without much hassle. Suggestions? Comments? Criticisms? Respectfully, Unc

Welp... My method failed. The results varried depending upon the brand of the pot. Soo... I guess I'll just give Bourns a call and get a bunch of Low Friction pots. :o/ At Westhemann... lol@ my bitch... Yessir. But... If folks experience that 'worn in' feeling on a new guitar... Ya get a few bonus points. :o)

I think I've gottit figgered out. One more test before I confirm though.

Welp... I went over a couple of pots. The resistance comes from the shaft tolerances and the lubricant used. I like the Stewmac çap thingy but don't think the DeOxit is a strong enough solvent to get rid of that lubricant. Will try a couple of different methods and see what kind of results I get. If nothing else... It's a fun little experiment. :o)

Hey all... Does anyone know how to convert CTS or Bourns pots (or any other pots for that matter) so they turn super easily? Don't get me wrong... I don't mind buying the EVH (Bourns) Low Friction Pots. I'm ok with that. A few folks have played on a couple of my customs that have/had the EVH pots in them. One of my regular guys just dropped off an SG and a Tele. He made a point of telling me he REALLY like the feel and wants to convert all of his guitars (He's got a house full of them) to the low friction, torque resistance type. The dilemma is... I've got a small truckload of CTS, Bourns and ALPHA pots and, you know... I'd like to be able to USE them. I'm going to start using them on everything and if someone wants the more resistive feel they'll have to ask for them special. Any of y'all got any tips and/or tricks that might save me the time/expense of experimentation? Respecftully, Unc

It goes ever further beyond the 'tree' tree rule. Two boards cut from the same area of a tree can even sound different. Density... Q... Moisture... Hardness... Grain orientation... it just depends upon how 'micro' you wanna get.

Hey All... So... I've got this early '90s Heartfield Talon I. Neck is weirdly shaped and strangely radiused considering there isn't a trem on the planet that comes with a 17" radius on the bridge. The Floyd Rose II that's in it is on it's last leg and I'm not going to invest in a replacement. I sho' 'nuff have a bucket full of hardtail trems upgrades and modifications, however. I got to thinkin' I should just fill those cavities up and mount that sucker right up on top. I'm not going to futz around with shaping woods and such. There's gotta be a better way. Has anyone used a liquid epoxy type filler with less in the way of shrink characteristics? I seem to remember seeing some liquid acrylic type of stuff that could be poured into the sealed cavity. That would certainly provide a better, more efficient and solid fill than carved wood, glue and fillers. Anyone got any experience or thoughts on something like this? Regards... Unc

Hey there Groovy Guys and Groovy Gals... I do a lot of bending of my tops... Drop Top, Bent Top... Whatever they're being called these days... Differing techniques depending upon the species, grain, thickness, etc. I've got some beautifully spalted AND flamed maple one piece tops (stunning pieces of wood if you ask me) that are just hair over 1/4" in thickness. The problem is... You know... Spalted stuff has that 'rot' that goes through the grain and, well... When ya try to bend or shape it... Well... It just crumbles. The tops of most of the guitars I make are heavily sculpted. I could do the Tyler thing and just 'carve away' with the top already applied exposing the core wood, but I'd kinda like to figure out a way to get this stuff to go around a curve. Thus far, the only idea I've come up with that I think would work is to thickness it down to < 1/8" and apply it to some sort of plastic substrate and work it as though it were a veneer. I don't really like that idea much, however. Just because it goes against my thoughts of having nice thick tops. Any-a y'all got any ideas? Respectfully, Unc

@Mr. Wez V... Thanks for the reply, Senor. That's it? I was reading somewhere that they used some sort of 'hot wax mixed with oil' and it sounded real... Well... Top Secret or something. So it's just tru-oil and beeswax? I should've known. Oy! Thanks a ton, Senor.

Hey All... Do any of you all know anything about the techniques and materials used for those EB Music Man oil/wax finishes?

Hey All... I'm curious now. I did a mod on a guy's strat, ended up changing pots/caps, etc... He was happy with the way it turned out when he picked it up. Told him to run it through his rig and lemme know if he wanted to tweak it some more. This experience got me more curious so I read through the tutorials and found information CLOSE to what I was looking for. Through experimentation, my ear knows what the effects are but I'm wondering if there's an easier way to communicate this kind of thing to others in black and white as though the combinations of the components looked like a shelving EQ. Something like... Volume Pot Value + Tone Pot Value + 'x' Cap = Y Freq Cut Off Any ideas?

Well... I realized there was no way to avoid experimentation so I got to work swapping parts in and out. Started with 500Ks/.047 cap. When I plugged the guitar in, everything was... Well... Flat. Sounded like the standard guitar you'd pull off the shelf at GC that had an H/S/S config. The bridge pickup was tamed while the neck pickup as just castrated, for lack of a better term. I then went to a 500K/.022 cap and a little of that high end came back and you could hit the tone control on the Dimarzio Fast Track to get it where the guy wants it. *MY* tastes... I don't like what the 500K pots did to the Vintage Noiseless pickups at all. I'm not a hater but I loves me some true single coil tones. The VN p'ups make a good go of that sound but the 500K pots flatten things out and make them far less lively. If it were mine... I'd have the bridge pickup on it's own circuit. Speaking of which... Bagh... That's another thread entirely. lol The guy's comin' over today. I'll let him run it through the Bradshaw rig and see if he digs it or not. If not... Will report further. Thanks again, DPM.

Thank you, Kind Sir. First... I need to clarify. The neck and middle p'ups are the Fender Vintage Noiseless (humbuckers)types. Thanks. Well... The .047 cap... I'm just afraid it'll take too much off the top of the neck p'up. Quite certain it would be perfect for the Fast Track though. Soo... I thought I could meet in the middle. The 500 K pots would soften up the tone a bit and the .022 cap might allow some extra clearance for high end on the neck pickup while allowing the tone knob for the bridge pickup to be reduce just a little bit. That was my thinkin'. Not that my thinking is correct. I'm just goin' by the general rules I've used in the past... 250 K pots go with .022 caps; 500 k pots go with .047 cap. the bigger the number the more highs are taken off. The smaller the number the less highs are taken off. Just guessing that if you combine a 500k pot with a .022 cap... You'll be in the middle somewhere.

Hey all! I haven't posted in a loong while but I've been lurkin' about the place. I've got a strat on the operating table. It looks as though everything was originally swapped out for a vintage noiseless. Then they discovered the bridge p'up was too bright. Whomever did it just used a pair of wire cutters to remove the treble bleed circuit from the tone pot. Anyway... NOW... The guy put a Dimarzio Fast Track 1 in the bridge position but it still has the 1 meg pots on the tone circuit so it's still too bright as well. The guy likes the sound of the remaining Vintage Noiseless (neck and middle) but wants to tone down the Dimarzio a hair. The problem is... He's got the tone circuit on the neck AND bridge p'ups via the Schaller Megaswitch (E-Type). The plan is... Well... What I was thinkin' was to do 500K tone pots with .022mfd Vitamin D cap so it won't effect the neck p'up too awful much while allowing for a smoother tone on the Dimarzio (bridge p'up). He presently runs the tone control of the 1 meg pots @ 4-5 to get the bridge pickup's high end under control. I'm thinkin' a 500K/.022mfd circuit would allow for turning the tone knob down to about '7' most of the time and if he wants some 'snot' out of that bridge pickup, he can run it wide open. I guess I'm fairly informed but not informed enough, methinks. Questions, comments, criticism, guidance and direction for the good of the cause tremendously appreciated. Os

TV Jones is your friend. I'd purchase a new harness. Takes me more time to make a harness than it costs for me to purchase one. I think you need this one... TV Jones Standby Harness

Oh man! Welp... If you remember, please gimme a PM or something, k? The neck pocket is already cut, so... The second note isn't an option at this point, ya know? Thanks again, Senor! MLAR, Cor

Hey Guys... I have a favor/job in the works for a friend. He wants me to throw together a guitar for him using some of the spare parts I have in the shop. He's a kindred spirit so I'm doing it for him for the cost of the parts + shjipping. So, since it's not a paying job and his choices are limited, he's opted for the one piece mahogany tele body that I've ultra-sculpted for comfort and an Ibanez S Series neck. The problems? Two fold... One... It's actually a Broadcaster body so it's actually 1 5/8" thick. Problem number two... He wants one of my spare Floyds on it which have 1 5/8" deep blocks. I know you can get shorter blocks somewhere. I mean... I had a floyd with a short block years ago, so they've gotta be out there somewhere. However, I'm unable to find anything on Stewmac, floydrose.com or any of the parts suppliers' sites I know of. Any suggestions and/or guidance? Respctfully, Cor

Best thing to do is call and ask, Bro. I've ordered routed body blanks from them with just about everything i could think of done with the exceptino of final shaping. Don't see why they can't leave something 'off' the program since they make so much stuff to order for their customers, ya know? Call 'em. It's your best bet, Senor. MALR, Cor

I've used both. As stated above, both have their advantages and disadvantages. But for every player, there's a 'deal-breaker'. For me, the deal-breaker was related to loss of sustain on some of the notes used with a softer dynamic. For me, it was the higher harmonics (like the second fret G string). As soon as I'd touch the bar, the note would just evaporate. Also... The 'warbles', although possible on the Kahler, were too soft and short in duration for my tastes. They've also been making fulcrum trems for many many years. I've never played one but some friends of mine have and give the spider high marks. I've seen the Kahlers on the Kerry King Models from B.C. Rich. I've also seen Kahlers on some of K.K. Downing's and Glen Tipton's guitars. Of course, Paul Gilbert and Bruce Bouillet used them back in the day too. But... Last time I saw Paul, he went with a hardtail and used a Whammy Pedal to trem effects. ::: shrug ::: Each unit has it's idiocyncracies. Although I prefer the Floyd trems (Edge, OFRs, Schallers, etc), each unit has it's place in the market. I will install one for any customer interested in them and it puts a smile on my face to see Gary back gaining more market share.

Eyeball it. Gotta straight edge of any kind? If you put a straight edge on it and it's got relief or backbow in it, see if you can straighten it using the trussrod.

Hey All... Hope all is well for y'all. Life is good for me and mine. Welp... Here's the deal... A few months ago, I built a 'pseudo'neck jig. I built the thing to help with the straightening of a backbowed and twisted neck. It didn't work. The neck was too far gone. Since then, I've used it for two... That's right... All of TWO... Necks for fretwork. I like the idea of holding the neck with tension on it as it completely eliminates what I call the 'floating neck' if I'm doing leveling or whatnot on a neck that's relying on the truss rod to hold it completely neutral. I get good results with the truss rod, but I check for straightness *VERY* often and adjust as needed because I live in a very hot and dry climate that allows for 'zero' trustworthiness associated with the hunk of wood. Nevertheless, I feel like I'm missing something. I mean, I strap the guitar in the jig, set the pin on the headstock for the desired position (usually as straight as humanly possible) and strap it down. Then I brace underneath the neck to avoid movement while I'm workin' on the neck, if possible. But that's as far as I go with it. Can any of you guys who use neck jigs give me the step-by-step run down as to your techniques? Many thanks and appreciation for any and all guidance and suggestions. Respectfully, Cor