ernie

I guess you would be able to rough cut the body with a router. It would probably take you a couple of passes with the router at different depths and even from both side of the body depending on how thick your wood is. Lots of sanding after that though to get a smooth shape. I cut out the entire neck of my project using a normal saw. Lots of muscle had to go intto that. The only thing that gave me a bit of a problem was getting a smooth transition from the angled headstock and the back of the neck. Took me forever to smooth sand that part. I wish I had a bandsaw too... time to start saving up. ernie

The first two coats were applied with about 15 - 20 minutes in between. The third coat that shrunk was sprayed about four days after. minwax is the stuff i am using, and what i hear from you guys is that i would be better off spraying all my coats in one session. i will have to strip the whole guitar first though. how many coats do you think would be an absolute minimum for a good buffing afterwards?? thanks for your help guys ernie

i sprayed in my garage, and brought it inside for it to dry. the thing is that the first two coats of poly were flawless. no problems at all. It was when i sprayed on the third coat that the poly immediately "crystalyzed" or shrunk in some spots on the guitar. i think will have to strip the whole thing down to the paint and respray in order to get an even finish. i will try and get some pictures up for ya to look at. ernie

Hi guys, I am at the clear coating stage with my project. I sprayed automotive paint from regular cans. The color coats turned out very neat, even, and smooth. Then I applied two coats of polyurethane that I got at the home depot. these two first coats went on without a glitch. A couple of days after, I went on to apply more coats on it and the clear coat immediately formed what looked like crystals, or maybe it shrunk... I don't know. Is polyurethane compatible with automotive spray??? I looked into it and did not find any reasons to believe otherwise. The poly I am using is oil based. Any ideas??? thanks alot ernie

what I ended up doing was buying a sheet of brass and cutting out the strip. I will give this a go again with maybe some square wire and this time I will do it on a board that is already radiused so that I will not have to sand that much. another question on the side: does dixgold tarnish or will it remain nice and shiny?? thanks guys ernie

Thanks a lot. That is what I thought was happening, but I guess I have to be more patient and give the metal much more of a rest. Patience is a virtue!! Thanks for your help. Ernie

I was wondering what is the best material for the stalk of the vine of the Jems?? I did a full vine inlay on a blank and when I was radiusing it, the brass that I used popped up in different spots. How do you think I could avoid this problem??? Thanks Ernie

Congratulations Jeremy. She is a beauty!! I want to ask you about the inlay. I have just finished a practice run at making a complete vine inlay and have come up with a few problems. I used brass for the stalk and acrylic plastic for the leaves. Now, after finally sanding down the board to get the radius, some parts of the brass wire were popped out. It got to the point where the tip of the stalk was sanded down completely and so I had to replace part of the wire. I think that the metal was heated up too much during sanding that it popped up from the glue. My other problem was that it seems like the plastic was also heated up so much that some of it melted and was carried over to the surrounding wood. This really sucks because I think it turned out pretty good for a first time, and also because I was hoping to do one with real shell for the guitar I am building now. I ended up abandoning the fancy inlay and just going for shell dots for now. Guess I will have to find a solution to this and do it for my next project. ( I haven't finished my first one and am already thinking about the next. )/ Anyways, congrats on your good work and thanks for any info. Ernie

You know what, I was not able to get a picture of this thing and after much thinking I've decided to get rid of this bridge that I have and get a Fender style one. It will be more simple to use. Thanks a lot for your input. ernie

The thing is that I like the feel of flatter fretboards. I can't imagine how I could get the individual blocks smaller. I will get some pictures of the bridge and post them so you can take a look and see what I mean. Thanks. Ernie

Hi there Brian, thanks for the idea, but unfortunately the saddles in my bridge can only be moved back and forwards. Do you think that maybe I could deepen the grooves in the middle saddles so that the radius is evened out? If this could be done I would have to be very careful so the strings don't get stuck in the grooves since the bridge has fine tuners at the back. Bummer . I hope I don't have to get a new bridge. Thanks Ernie

Hello guys, I am very concerned about the bridge that I got for my first project. I got a Schaller fixed bridge, and learned that it has a 12" radius that the saddles make. Now, I have ordered a 16" radiused fingerboard, and was wondering if this discrepancy in their radii is something to be concerned about. Will it mess up my action? Help would really be appreciated. Thanks Ernie

Hello everyone, I am building my very first guitar, and I am having a few problems with the bridge. First of all, I would like to install a fixed bridge just to keep things simple my first time around. My questions are: 1. Does anyone know if fixed bridges require a neck angle? I know that not all of them are installed perpendicular to the strings, so: 2. When and why should they sometimes be installed at an angle relative to the strings? And last one guys I promise... : 3. Do they all require a neck angle? To keep things simple, I would prefer not to have a neck angle, but what type or make of fixed bridge would you recommend? I really do not like tail pieces for the strings, so either have strings thru the body or have them hook up straight from the bridge itself. I was looking into getting a Schaller bridge. Any ideas guys??? Thanks in advance ernie