jojokell

Thanks for the responses. I will do some more looking. Also, I could go the spray can route, but I thought I would ask about the wiping method first.

By the way- is better to do the top (maple) or sides and back (mahogany) first? In other words does the order matter assuming I have already clear coated the faux binding?

Jo

I think I have done a complete search on the sight, but if I missed this answer please forgive me (point me).

I am fast approaching the time to begin my first finishing of a guitar. The guitar in question has a maple top over a mahogany body. I hope to apply a busrt finish to the top, but I do not have access to a spray gun. I know that I can go the can route (as suggested by ReRanch).

However, I was wondering if I could wipe the finish on instead of using spray cans? I feel like I have read many posts where people have talked about wiping on at least part of the finish, but then it always turns to spraying.

I also plan to follow Myka's suggestion of painting a clearcoat on the binding, for a faux binding look.

Jo

Looks good so far. What color will you paint it?

Jo

I have a question regarding the printing of .dxf files downloaded from guitarbuild.com.

Today, I saved a .dxf file to disk thinking I would go to Kinkos and have them printout the file on a plotter. I know if I open the file on my home maching it tells me it is set to regular paper. Some files seem to print on anywhere from 8-16 pages, but I am scared I will misallign when taping together. However, I must not have resized the drawing correctly because the printout was small on a huge sheet of paper.

Can someone explain to me what I need to do to properly format so that my next trip to kinkos is not a waste.

Jo

Hope I used the correct forum

Thanks for the responses. I am using a template from guitarbuildingtemplates.com. The route for the neck is much bigger than the Rio (Muy Grande) that I am looking to install. I will make a template out of MDF prior to routing the body.

Hopefully I can avoid shims.

jo

I have recently finished carving the body of my T-style guitar. I have routed the neck pocket. The neck seems to fit well. It is not as snug as some of you seem to get yours, but it is pretty darn close. Next time I plan to make it just a tad smaller than my template and sand until the nexck fits snug.

I have a question regarding routing the neck pu. I have a pair of rio grande (muy grande that I plan to install. I know when I do the bridge I will route the pocket and be able to mount the pu through the bridge plate. However, i do not intend to use a pickguard. Therefore, I am not sure what I should do to mount the neck pu? I assume I still route a 5/8" deep pocket, but I also assume it needs to be smaller than the template I have because there will be no pickguard to cover the larger hole area.

Am I headed in the right direction? Do I just screw into the wood at the bottom of the routed area?

Thanks,

Jo

Drak,

After looking Martin Kioch's book - he shows a very similar process. I must have missed that before asking my question.However, I think your description is a little better.

I will set all saddles up to about 90% and match them with my 25 1/2" line. From your description and Koch's I think I should be okay.

Again,

Thanks!

Can't learn without the simple or somewhat obvious questions

Drak,

Thanks for the tutorial. I will give your ideas a go when th eneck comes in.

jo

Drak,

Why only the low E?

WHy 90%?

I will wait until my neck comes in before making holes! I just looked at stew mac and did not see a bridge template?

If anyone has a picture or diagram of this, it would be very helpful.

Thanks again.

jo

Okay - As I have said this is my first guitar. To date I have purchased the tele template from guitar templates.com. I then retraced this onto a thicker piece of MDF board and smoothed out a few of the rough spots. In all the tamplate was very useful. I then cut the body and routed the neck pocket. I also have a neck from a neighbor's old tele. (I have a new one on order).

I guess my questions stems around where to mark my holes for drilling the bridge plate to ensure that I have the exact scale length (25 1/2"). If I look at my neighbors fender the string holes are in front of the mounting screws, where as the template came with the 4 mounting screws in front of the string holes. Is this due to different mounting plates? The bridge plate that I purchased seems to match the pattern on the template. Also when I measure from the front of my nut to the mounting holes on the template, I seem to be right at 25 1/2". Is this the proper way to do it with this style bridge plate? Or do I need to measure based on the saddles because on the real fender it seems to match where the saddles would be. The mounting screws on the real fender are more han 25 1/2".

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks for the help

This is my first post - pictures soon.

Jo